When you find yourself with fresh ingredients on hand, you get creative in the kitchen. Having a bunch of fresh tauge (mung bean sprouts) from The Farmtory, we had yummy dinner that night. Here is my Chicken Misono Recipe.

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Missing Our Family’s Restaurant Meals

We honestly don’t mind staying at home. Since we are a homeschooling family, the kids are not complaining. After all, they understand that staying at home keeps us safe.

• Related: Stay at home – Plead Doctors and Nurses Amidst Covid-19

But what we miss are the random family travels that we used to have. Before the lockdown for Covid-19, we travelled as a family at least twice a month.

Personally, I miss my grocery runs that could take an hour or so, just because it is actually therapeutic for me. And most of all, we miss the family outings over restaurant-prepared meals that we regularly have. We do enjoy sampling different cuisines made in different Bacolod restaurants.

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And that is one of the reasons why I keep cooking at home. It is already bad enough to be forced to stay at home. But to stay at home like without good food? That would suck. So I try to re-create our favorite dishes with my restaurant-style homecooking. Then I document the process so that I can share them with you.

So here is my chicken misono recipe using tauge grown by The Farmtory. Read: The Farmtory: Surviving the Lockdown With Tauge

My Easy Chicken Misono Recipe

Some chicken misono recipes only have a few cloves of garlic, which they saute together with the garlic. I used a lot and incorporated it with the marinade because I love the aroma and flavor of garlic. Plus, it has lots of health benefits, too.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, sliced in serving portions
• Pinch of salt
• 3 Tbsps. Teriyaki Sauce (Kikkoman)
• 4 Tbsps. Coconut Soy Sauce
• 3 Tbsps. Knorr Liquid Seasoning
• 3 Tbsps. Lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 head garlic, chopped
• 1 cup water
• Sesame oil
• 1 carrot, sliced into strips
• ½ kilo tauge with long stems
• 1 onion, slivered
• 2 Tbsps. Butter
• Roasted sesame seeds
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar (optional)
• 2 Tbsps. Cornstarch, dissolved in ¼ cup tap water and 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• Green onions, sliced into about 1-inch long

Cooking time: About 30 minutes

Procedure:

Here’s how to make chicken misono.

Marinate the chicken

1. Wash the chicken and drain. If you are going to cook frozen chicken, allow it to thaw for two hours before preparation. Using the tip of a sharp knife, plunge it into the thick, fleshy parts of the chicken to create punctures. This will make sure that your chicken is cooked through.

2. Place the chicken slices in a container and add the salt, teriyaki sauce, liquid seasoning, soy sauce, lemon juice, black pepper, and garlic. Mix well and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Kitchen Hack

Cooking the chicken, the aroma will remind you about chicken adobo. Well, except for the lack of vinegar and laurel leaves, the seasonings pretty much comprise adobo ingredients. What makes the difference eventually will be butter and of course, the vegetable sidings. But yes, butter makes all the difference. I use either Anchor Butter or Magnolia Gold Butter—the salted variant.

Cooking the Chicken Misono

1. When you are ready to cook, heat a non-stick pan on medium heat. Arrange the chicken slices on the pan and sear for about 5 minutes on each side to let the oils come out.

You don’t need to use cooking oil for this because dressed chicken has a lot of natural fat.

2. Pour in the marinade mixture and add a cup of water. The water should be level with the chicken to cook properly. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes on each side. If the liquid is running low, you may hot water, about ¼ cup each time.

3. When the chicken is cooked through, adjust the fire to low. Using a tong, fish out the chicken and place them in a container. Set aside.

4. Add the carrots into the sauce and cook for about 5 minutes in medium heat.

5. Mix in the onions and tauge. If the tauge is hard to manage, cover the pan for about a minute. The heat will wilt the crisp tauge stems and make it more manageable to mix.

6. Add the butter and mix in the roasted sesame seeds. Some recipes do not use sesame seeds, but since I know the health benefits it can give me, I generously used it in this dish.

Cooking Notes: Health Benefits of Sesame Seeds

Sesame seeds in this dish are optional. But I like them so I use it generously. And it’s not just for flavor or aroma. I use a lot of sesame seeds in my cooking because of its health benefits. As much as possible, I would rather take nutrients in the form of food. I believe it’s safer than taking them in capsule form. Read: Health Benefits of Sesame Seeds for Menopausal Women

10. Adjust the seasonings at this point. If you want to have a sweeter misono dish, add some brown sugar or maple syrup. If you have honey, that would be a healthier option.

11. Stir in the cornstarch dissolved in water and soy sauce. This will thicken your misono sauce.

12. Move the vegetables to the side of the pan and place the chicken slices back in. Coat them with sauce and cook over low heat for 2 more minutes.

13. Serve hot with steamed white rice or better yet, make misono rice.

Enjoy this chicken misono recipe with the ones you love. <3

Sharing Other Homecooking Recipes

Here are some other homecooking recipes in this blog that you might want to prepare at home:

• Korean Beef Stew Recipe: Restaurant-Style Cooking with Beef Camto
• Homemade Gyoza Recipe (Japanese Pot Stickers)
• This Shepherd’s Pie Recipe will Get Your Kids to Eat Vegetables
• Homemade Garlic Corned Beef Recipe by Mommy Sigrid
• Pinoy Callos Recipe by Mommy Sigrid
• Beef Pares Recipe Using Flank Steak (Beef Camto)
• Homemade Fried Cauli Rice Recipe
• Pork Skin Kilawin Recipe (Pork Skin Salad): Ulam Below 100 Pesos

Sardines Recipes for Family Budget Meals

Meanwhile, here are recipes using sardines in a can that are friendly to the family budget. And your kids won’t complain that you have sardines again!

• Sardine Java Rice: A Filipino Family Meal Below P50
• Sardine Spaghetti Aglio Olio Recipe: 50-Peso Dish During Family Quarantine
• Spicy Sardine Frittata: 50-peso-Dish for a Family of 5 from Covid-19 Relief Packs
• Sardine and Salted Egg Salad Recipe for a Budget Meal