the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Miso Curry Chicken and Snap Pea Stir Fry

Even though the interval between the feast of Thanksgiving and the revelry of the Christmas and New Years week is shorter this year, that’s no reason to not keep slinging some varied and interesting dishes out of your kitchen the next few weeks.

One of my fly fishing buddies sent in a version of this Miso Curry Chicken and Snap Pea Stir Fry a few weeks ago, the week before Thanksgiving in fact, and we’ve just gotten around to fiddling with the recipe this past week here in our own kitchen.

While I’m a big curry fan, my wife typically isn’t, objecting to some curry dishes’ overpowering curry-ness (to the point sometimes of being bitter). The addition of a bit of miso and fresh ginger here seems to soften the curry a bit, and makes for a very interesting, almost subtle, and damned tasty variation that we’d never enjoyed at home before.

Fresh sugar snap peas happened to be piled high in the bin as I shopped a few days back, though this dish plays very well with snow peas or haricots verts (the thin French-style green beans) too.

Don’t skimp on the garlic or ginger, and I think this one’s better with a little more heat as well…

3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
2 and 1/2 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp good fresh curry powder
2-3 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
4 tbsp avocado oil, divided
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or mixed with thighs) in 1/2-inch slices
Kosher salt, see notes
3/4 pound prepped and trimmed sugar snap peas, snow peas, or green beans
1/2 cup frozen or fresh (not canned) baby peas
3 green onions, thinly sliced

Combine together the garlic, tamari, miso, curry powder, ginger, red pepper flakes if using, and 2 tbsp oil in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat a tbsp or so oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and then sauté the chicken in a single layer until browned, turn and cook for another minute. You just want the second side of the chicken to become opaque; it won’t be cooked all the way through but remove to a plate anyway-there’s more cooking to come.

Now add the final tbsp of oil to the pan and cook the prepped beans (still on medium-high heat) until they brighten in color and begin to char in spots, 2-3 minutes. Remove to the plate with the chicken.

Reduce the heat to medium, and pour the curry-miso mixture into the same pan, and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Look for the garlic to soften a bit and the curry to darken in color. Now add the peas and 1/2 cup of water, then return the chicken and beans to the skillet and toss to coat.

Cook another 3-4 minutes until the sauce has reduced by about half and thickens, tossing occasionally to coat the chicken and beans. Serve hot sprinkled with the chopped green onions/scallions.

Enjoy.