Miso-Peanut Hibachi Chicken Recipe | Epicurious

Sam Choy is one of the most admired chefs from Hawai‘i ever, and a huge influence on me since what we’d call small kid time. I always wanted to cook like Sam. A born and raised O‘ahu boy, the big Sam is famous for many things—his down-home cooking style, his mastery of poke, and his love of aloha shirts—but maybe more than anything, his miso–peanut butter chicken. Though I doubt he’d claim to have invented it (he’s humble like that), the recipe first appeared in one of his cookbooks many decades ago and became incredibly popular seemingly overnight. Suddenly it was in newspapers and on TV and everyone knew how to make it.

It’s maintained its staying power ever since and I think it’s because there’s something about the combination of miso and peanut butter and how it caramelizes when it hits the grill that’s just incredible. You can smell it a full mile away when someone is grilling it at the beach. My twist is adding a little spicy chili paste to the mix, which doesn’t add heat as much as it does add a little sharpness that balances the rich flavors. Since the marinade clings to the meat almost like a crust, leaner chicken breasts can work here, too, but to me there’s nothing that beats the juiciness and even-cooking of boneless, skinless thighs on the hibachi.