Miso Chicken and Penne

When you think of miso paste, you think of miso soup.

But with a big box of miso paste sitting in your fridge, you are going to take quite a while before you use up the box of miso paste. How about using miso paste in your cooking as well?

Packed school lunch for my two darlings today .... Fried chicken pieces in miso paste, miso-flavored penne, and some blanched broccoli. It is a fairly easy to prepare lunch box, especially when you prepare the ingredients the day before =)

A piece of chicken thigh fillet was cut into bite sized cubes the day before, and marinated in some shaoxing wine and cornflour. The wholegrain penne was cooked the day before, let cool and sprinkled with some olive oil before storing in the fridge. All you need to do in the morning is ......

• Microwave the box of precooked penne, about 2 minutes.
• Microwave some broccoli.
• Drain and set aside.
• Heat up a frying pan.
• Add some olive oil.
• Add the chicken pieces and fry till cooked.
• Turn off heat.
• In a small bowl, add a little water to 1 tablespoon or less of miso paste.
• Add the diluted miso paste to the cooked chicken pieces.
• Add penne and mix well.
• Add some water if you find it too salty.
• Add the blanched broccoli and mix well.
• Pack into the lunchbox.

Remember not to add the miso paste while the heat is on. Adding blanched broccoli helps to even out the saltiness of the miso paste. But if you find that you have added too much of the miso paste, add some water to dilute the mixture. Alternatively, you can start off by adding just a teaspoon, and gradually add the paste till you find it acceptable. It all depends on your taste and how much penne you are adding to the cooked meat.