I too, have kitchen fails.

Hello Miso.

When I planned out our meals for this week, I found a recipe that got me excited. It read like a take on fried rice with miso as a main ingredient. Awesome, I love fried  rice and I love miso. Use it as a chicken marinade? Why not!

I picked up miso paste (why I hadn't before now I don't know) and eagerly looked forward to Thursday when I'd be whipping this up for dinner.





After two very delicious meals I've already blogged, Thursday rolled around and I got my chicken miso-ed up and in the fridge. I steamed the chicken, cooked the rice and got my other ingredients all set. I brought the whole dish together. My husband and I sat down to eat, excited for the miso chicken. And as we dug in and ate dinner, we both felt the same way: Meh.

The ingredients are all there. The cooking technique is sound. But something is missing. My husband feels it needs more of a salty component to balance it. I feel like it needs a sweet component. Either way, I was disappointed. To the point I couldn't eat it again as left overs tonight. Thankfully my husband isn't too firmly against it, so he will finish up the leftovers. And i have enough sliced turkey, bread and cheese to keep me happy, but I am still left with a recipe fail.

I will present it to you, my 5 readers. Let me know if you have any thoughts. I really wanted this one to work.

Miso Chicken with Brown Rice

From Cooking Light

I changed two things: 1. I marinated the chicken for about 6 hours and 2. I used cilantro instead of parsley. Otherwise I followed this exactly.


2  tablespoons  miso (soybean paste)
1 1/2  tablespoons  minced peeled fresh ginger
2  garlic cloves, minced
4  (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves
Cooking spray

5  large egg whites, lightly beaten
1  cup  finely chopped onion
1  cup  thinly sliced carrot
1  tablespoon  fish sauce
2 1/2  cups  cooked brown rice
1  cup  diced shiitake mushroom caps (about 3 ounces)
2  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley
2  tablespoons  chopped green onions
1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2  cups  chopped spinach


Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Rub miso mixture over both sides of chicken breast halves. Wrap each breast half securely in plastic wrap. Arrange the packets in steamer rack; place rack in a Dutch oven. Steam packets, covered, 20 minutes or until done. Remove packets from steamer; let stand 5 minutes. Remove chicken from packets, reserving liquid from packets. Dice chicken; set aside. Discard water in pan; wipe pan dry with a paper towel.

Place a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Add egg whites, and cook 2 minutes or until done. Remove egg whites from skillet; coarsely chop.

Add reserved cooking liquid, chicken, onion, carrot, and fish sauce to Dutch oven, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook 5 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add rice, mushrooms, parsley, green onions, and soy sauce; cook 3 minutes. Stir in egg whites and spinach.

Looks kind of brown and non assuming.