Clay-Pot Miso Chicken

So after a most disastrous attempt to make my own Japanese curry, I felt pretty down and discouraged.  But along came David Chang to make things right in my world.  I've had good luck with some other David Chang recipes from his Momofuku cookbook, which I have decided to purchase instead of continuing to leach his recipes from random internet sites.  I've never eaten at Momofuku, but I have heard such great things and all his recipes look fun and interesting.

So I actually got the recipe from a once great and active fellow food blogger.  She decided to do one recipe in the Momofuku cookbook everyday until she cooked everything in the book.  Since she finished, her blog has now become defunct.

Sorry I don't have many pictures of how I got here, but I'll probably make this again and update it.

Clay-Pot Miso Chicken Recipe adapted from gourmet.com
serves 2
4 chicken thighs with skin and bone
1/4 cup dried wood ear mushrooms
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 a large onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup mirin
2 tablespoons shiro miso
2 tablespoons soy sauce
sliced green onions for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F. Pat chicken dry, then roast, skin side up, shallow baking pan or dish until skin is golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.
2.  While chicken roasts, soak wood ear mushrooms and shiitakes in hot water until softened. When soft, cut the stems off the shiitakes and slice. Set aside.
3.  Transfer roasted chicken to a bowl and pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a glass measure. Let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes, then skim off and discard fat. Add enough stock to bring a cup of liquid.
4.  Reduce oven to 300°F.
5.  Heat oil in a small heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté onions until softened and beginning to brown. Add ginger, and garlic and sauté until garlic is golden, 3 to 5 minutes.
6.  Add mirin and boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, 1 minute. Stir in miso and soy sauce, then stir in chicken, wood ear mushrooms, shiitakes, and stock mixture. Bring to a boil, skimming off any froth.
7.  Cover pot and braise in oven until chicken is tender, about 1 hour.
8.  Serve in shallow bowls with white rice.

Dumpling Man gave his seal of approval.  The chicken was fall-apart tender and the flavors were perfectly salty and sweet.  I left out the wood ear mushrooms since I'm not a huge fan and neither is Dumpling Man.  I just added more shitake mushrooms instead.  I liked how Momofukufor2 scaled down the recipe for just 2 servings.  There were no leftovers that night and I love when that happens!