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Miso chicken lettuce wraps are a hand-held dinner that is fresh and actually fills you up at the same time. The chicken marinates overnight, then broils into a dark, caramelized crust over tender meat. Slice it thin, lay it over sticky rice in butter lettuce, and spoon the soy and orange juice sauce on top. A little sweet, a little spicy.
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The Best Lettuce for Lettuce Wraps
Lettuce wraps can go two ways. Fold the leaf around the filling and eat it taco-style, or leave it open and eat the filling out of the cup. Both work. The lettuce decides which one feels right.
Butter Lettuce: Soft and pliable. Bibb and Boston are the same lettuce under different names. The leaves come naturally cupped so the sauce stays put, but they fold without tearing. This is what I used for these miso chicken lettuce wraps.
Iceberg: Stiff and crunchy. Peel whole leaves off the head carefully or they tear. Iceberg cracks if you fold it, so eat these flat, like a cup. The crunch is the trade.
Little Gem: Small pale-green heads with a narrower leaf. Sturdier than butter, more flexible than iceberg.
Romaine Hearts: Inner pale leaves only. Sturdy like iceberg but flat instead of cupped, so the filling sits on top.
Keep the lettuce in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble.
About the Miso Marinated Chicken
What Type of Chicken to Use: Boneless thighs are what I use. They stay juicy under a broiler and the dark meat stands up to the miso instead of getting flattened by it. Breast works if that’s what you have, but it dries out faster, so cut the marinade to twelve hours and don’t go past 165°F.
How Long to Marinate: Twelve hours is the floor for thighs, twenty-four is the ceiling. Past that, the miso pushes the texture into something dense and salty.
Why Broil Then Sear? The broiler sets the top with a dark, caramelized crust from the sugar in the marinade, but it can’t reach the bottom of the chicken sitting on the pan. A minute or two in a hot stainless pan finishes the bottom and brings the chicken to temperature.
How Do I Know When It’s Done? Pull at 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part. The dark glaze hides the visual cues, so trust the thermometer, not the color. Rest five minutes, then slice thin across the grain.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Marinating Ahead: Start the marinade up to 24 hours before you cook. Anything shorter than twelve doesn’t give the miso time to do its work, anything longer takes the texture too far. If you’re cooking for a weeknight, get the chicken in the marinade the night before.
Storing the Chicken: Sliced or whole, the cooked chicken keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. Reheat covered in a 325°F (160°C) oven for ten minutes so the crust doesn’t soften, or eat it cold over the rice like a rice bowl.
Storing the Rice: Seasoned rice keeps for three days in the fridge. Sprinkle a teaspoon of water over it and microwave covered for a minute to bring it back. Don’t season the rice ahead if you know you’re storing it, vinegar dulls the flavor as it sits. Cook the rice plain, season what you’ll eat that day.
Storing the Sauce: The sauce keeps for a week in a sealed jar in the fridge. The chile and scallion get a little softer over time but the flavor holds.
The Lettuce: Don’t store assembled wraps. The lettuce wilts and the rice turns the leaf soggy. Keep the components separate and assemble each wrap as you eat it.
How to Serve Miso Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Start with a fresh Cucumbertini and Bluefin Tuna Wonton Tostadas. These are both good openers before the chicken. For your side, a Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad, cold marinated cucumbers with soy and salsa macha. Finish with Amaretto Peaches, warm peaches with brown sugar, orange zest, and a splash of amaretto and rum.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Twelve hours is the floor, twenty-four is the maximum. Past a day, the texture turns dry and salty instead of tender.
Butter lettuce, bibb, or Boston (they’re the same lettuce under different names). Soft enough to fold and naturally cupped. Little gem and romaine hearts also work. Iceberg holds a great crunch but doesn’t fold, so eat those flat as a cup with the filling on top.
Yes. Leave out the salsa macha and the fresno. The sauce is still bright and savory from the soy, orange juice, and sesame oil.
Calrose is what I use because it’s sticky enough to stay together in a wrap. Short-grain sushi rice works the same way. Jasmine or basmati are looser but still work fine.
Yes. Combine the chicken and cooled marinade in a freezer bag, push out the air, and freeze for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before cooking. Freezing pauses the marinade time, so you don’t risk over-marinating.
Yes. Cooked chicken keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. Reheat covered in a 325°F oven so the crust holds.
Equipment
- pot
- non-reactive dish
- plastic wrap
- rice cooker
- Rimmed baking sheet
- aluminum foil
- pan
Ingredients
Chicken and Marinade
- 6-8 boneless chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 1/4 cup sake
- 1/3 cup white miso paste
- 1/3 cup cane sugar
Rice
- 1 cup Calrose rice, washed
- 1 cup water
- 1 strip kombu
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
Spicy Citrus Soy Sauce
- 3-4 tbsp soy sauce, or tamari
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp agave syrup
- 1/2 large orange, juice only
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp salsa macha, or chili crisp
- 1 fresno chile, chopped
- 2 scallions, white parts only
For Assembly
- 12-14 butter lettuce leaves
- 2 scallions, green parts only, sliced
- toasted sesame seeds, to taste
- cashews, chopped, to taste
Instructions
- Make the Marinade: Boil the mirin and sake in a pot for 3 minutes. Add the miso and cane sugar and cook a few more minutes without letting it boil. Cool completely.1/4 cup mirin, 1/4 cup sake, 1/3 cup white miso paste, 1/3 cup cane sugar
- Marinate the Chicken: Pour a little of the cooled marinade into the bottom of a non-reactive dish. Add the chicken thighs and pour the rest over the top, moving the pieces so every side is fully coated. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 12 hours, up to 24 hours maximum.6-8 boneless chicken thighs
- Cook the Rice: Add the rice, water, kombu, and salt to a rice cooker and cook on the white rice setting. Remove the kombu, fluff the rice, and stir in the rice vinegar and sugar. Cover and set aside.1 cup Calrose rice, 1 cup water, 1 strip kombu, 1 pinch salt, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 1/2 tbsp sugar
- Make the Sauce: Whisk the soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, agave, orange juice, sesame oil, salsa macha, fresno chile, and scallion whites in a bowl.3-4 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp agave syrup, 1/2 large orange, 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp salsa macha, 1 fresno chile, 2 scallions
- Broil the Chicken: Move the top oven rack 3-4 inches from the heating element and preheat the broiler on high for 5 minutes. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the chicken with space between each piece. Broil for 11 minutes, rotating the pan once for even color. The chicken will not be fully cooked through.
- Sear and Rest: Preheat a stainless steel pan over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken bottom side down for 1-2 minutes, until the bottom is golden and the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C). Rest 5 minutes, then slice.
- Assemble: Lay out the butter lettuce leaves. Top each with a spoonful of rice, sliced chicken, a drizzle of sauce, scallion greens, toasted sesame seeds, and cashews.12-14 butter lettuce leaves, 2 scallions, toasted sesame seeds, cashews
Kitchen Cam
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great!
Can you grill the chicken?
Hey Chrissy, Sure you can. That will taste great also!
If shifting to chicken breasts, how long would you suggest marinating for? Still 12-24 hours? Thx.
Hey Erin, Yes it will still be the 12-24 hour marinating time for the chicken breast also. Let me know how it turns out!