You are witnessing an Umami explosion. Merging my two favorite chicken dishes, "Mushroom Marsala" and "Teriyaki," namely, I developed this recipe. Although simple and calling for only six ingredients, the dish exhibits a complex flavor profile. Each of the six ingredients is a rich Umami source, while also representing a major flavor note. Soy is salty, caramelized onions is sweet, wine is the acid, and mushrooms and Bonito flakes furnish earthiness.
Ingredients:
1 Oz (~28 gr) dried slices Shiitake mushroom (re-hydrated in Marsala wine overnight)
¾ cup Marsala wine (use to re-hydrate the mushrooms)
1 Pound (~450 gr or 3 to 4 medium) chicken thighs
1 TSP Bonito flakes (or 1 TSP fish sauce)
2 TBSP Soy sauce
As mentioned
here, the best way of cooking chicken thighs is the pan-seared method which results in crackling skin. De-bone the thighs (keep the skin on), following the instructions from the original link.
Put a heavy bottom pan on medium heat and wait for five minutes. Do not season the meat, as soy sauce is salty enough to season the dish.
Place each thigh on the hot pan, skin-side-down, without added oil. The pan should be extremely hot and the chicken should shrink and quiver as soon as it hits the pan. Cook for 8 minutes with absolutely no touching and disturbing. Using a spoon, take out 3 to 4 TBSP of released oil from the pan (turns out skin has a lot of oil). Flip all the pieces and add the mushroom and the wine (in which mushrooms are re-hydrated overnight). Add the soy sauce, caramelized onions and bonito flakes. Cook until the chicken is cooked and the sauce is thick.
Optionally garnish with chopped scallions and sesame seeds and serve with rice.
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