I received a couple of Jars of Organic Miso Paste from my friends at Umami Pantry. The Miso, among other products are all Australian made, certified organic and vegan. They asked me to cook with their Miso products and truth be told, I haven’t had loads of experience with Miso and it is a flavour I have only recently discovered. I have dabbled with a ramen and a couple of soups and not so long ago, I did an incredibly tasty Steak with Creamy Miso Mushrooms and this dish is really where I discovered my love for this unique ingredient. With Miso, it really is about balance. Balancing out that salty, umami earthiness with a combination of sweetness and acidity and after doing a little research, I found another banging recipe in a Gourmet Traveller Magazine that was inspired by a classic Kylie Kwong dish. This Miso Chicken & Bean Stir Fry was an absolute delight and while I put a few other ingredients in it and left a couple out, I really think I managed to capture the essence of this beautiful Australian owned and made product. It was a little more subtle and a little more textural than the mass produced Japanese variety and it gave me great comfort knowing that it was made with the simplest of ingredients and had zero nasties lurking in the background.
I loved this stir fry, you could definitely play around with the protein by substituting red meat, pork or seafood, or else you could do a totally vegetarian/vegan version and use tofu and assorted Asian veg. The sauce is key here and the Wok is your oyster!
Prep time: 20 Minutes
Cooking time: 10 Minutes
$-$$ Low to Medium Budget (Stir Fries typically are budget friendly)
Serves 4
Peanut oil for frying (or vegetable oil)
2 large chicken breast fillets, sliced thinly across the grain
400gm of green beans, ends removed and sliced in half diagonally
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2 long red chillies, thinly sliced (some reserved for garnish)
1 brown onion, peeled, halved and sliced top to bottom
6 spring onions, cut into 3cm batons, green tops thinly sliced for garnish
1 bunch of Thai basil, leaves removed from stalks and stalks discarded (reserve some of the baby leaves for garnish)
1/2 cup of sliced natural almonds, toasted in a dry pan until golden
Rice or Noodles of your choice. I used short brown rice and popped a little grated ginger, spring onion and sea salt in at the end.
For the Miso Sauce:
2.5 tbs of White Miso Paste
1 tbs of runny honey
1.5 tbs of shaoxing wine
1.5 tbs of rice wine vinegar
2 tsp of sesame oil
1 tbs of water
To prepare the Miso Chicken and Bean Stir Fry, it is best to have all of your ingredients ready to go as Stir Frying requires a quick cooking method. Once everything is prepped and the rice is on, I then set about cooking the ingredients. If cooking brown rice, wait until the rice is resting with a lid on before you start cooking.
Place all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined.
Heat a large wok and add a little oil. When the wok is super hot, stir fry the chicken pieces in batches and once lightly golden, remove from the wok and set aside. Repeat with the remaining chicken. It is important you don’t over crowd the wok at this stage as the chicken will stew and not sear.
Add a little more oil to the wok if needed and then stir fry the onion. Once the onion has started to soften add the spring onion, garlic slices, chilli slices and green beans. I like to use two wooden spoons to toss the ingredients in the wok, it enables you to work faster and toss more evenly. Return the chicken to the wok and toss to combine, maintaining a high heat the whole time. Once it is combined, pour in the sauce and again, work fast to toss and coat everything evenly in the sauce. Lastly toss the larger Thai Basil leaves through, right at the end.
To serve the Miso Chicken, divide rice or noodles between four bowls. Use a large spoon to serve up the stir fry, making sure everyone gets a good amount of the sauce. To garnish, scatter over the toasted almonds, chilli slices and baby Thai basil leaves. Serve immediately.
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that are at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.