Crispy-skinned chicken thighs over clay pot rice with a golden, crackly bottom, finished with a glossy sweet miso and mirin glaze, pea sprouts and sesame seeds.

Ingredients

For the rice

• 1 cup short-grain rice
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp neutral oil

For the chicken

• 2–3 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• ½ tsp kosher salt

For the sweet miso glaze

• ½ shallot, minced
• 3 Tbsp mirin
• 1 Tbsp sweet miso paste
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp soy sauce
• 1 cup chicken stock

For serving

• Handful of pea sprouts
• 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)

Instructions

1. Rinse the rice 5–6 times, until the water runs clear, then soak it for 20 minutes.
2. Debone the chicken: cut along both sides of the thigh bone, work the knife underneath it and cut through the cartilage at each end. Trim off any large pockets of fat.
3. Season both sides with the kosher salt and pat dry.
4. Lay the thighs skin side down in a cold stainless steel pan, then set it over medium heat. Cook for 8–10 minutes, letting the fat render slowly so the skin crisps evenly.
5. Once the chicken is about 60% cooked and the skin releases from the pan, flip and cook for 3–4 minutes more. Set the chicken aside and save the drippings.
6. Brush the bottom of the clay pot with the oil. Add the drained rice and the water and bring to a simmer over a gas flame.
7. Cover, turn the flame to its lowest setting and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice steam, lid on, for another 10–15 minutes.
8. While the rice steams, make the glaze: set the chicken pan over medium-low heat and sauté the shallot for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
9. Add the mirin and scrape up the browned bits from the pan. Simmer for 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol.
10. Stir in the miso, brown sugar, lemon juice, soy sauce and chicken stock and simmer until it thickens to the consistency you like, then take it off the heat.
11. For a crispy bottom, put the covered pot back over a low flame and pour the chicken drippings around the rim of the lid so they run down the sides. Turn the pot every so often so each side gets time near the flame.
12. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and lay them over the rice. Drizzle with the glaze, top with pea sprouts and sesame seeds and mix before eating.

Notes & substitutions