Shio Koji Chicken 塩麹チキン

Make the most tender and flavorful chicken thighs you’ve ever tasted with my fast, easy, and delicious Shio Koji Chicken! The secret is shio koji, a natural seasoning and key ingredient in Japanese cooking, which offers many health benefits.

Sometimes, one simple ingredient is all it takes to lend a magical touch to a dish. Garlic, ginger, miso, yuzu kosho, and sriracha are just a few fantastic examples. And if you haven’t heard of shio koji, allow me to introduce you to this seasoning today. You can use it to pull off an incredibly tender and tasty Shio Koji Chicken (塩麹チキン) with just 4 ingredients!

Thanks to shio koji, it takes minimal effort and time to get this umami-packed, delicious chicken dinner on the table. It’s the “wow” factor that a chicken dish needs! Try it, and you’ll want to keep this all-purpose seasoning in your fridge at all times.

What is Shio Koji?

Shio koji (塩麹, 塩糀) is a traditional Japanese ingredient used to marinate, tenderize, and enhance the umami in foods, or as a salt substitute. This fermented natural seasoning is made with just salt, water, and rice koji!

Shio koji tenderizes food and brings out the umami and sweetness in foods.

You can purchase a bottle of shio koji (my favorite brand is Hikari Miso) from Japanese/Asian grocery stores and Amazon.

Shio Koji Substitute

Simply substitute 1 teaspoon of salt with 2 teaspoons of shio koji. However, you will only get the “salt” effect and miss out on the “umami bomb” effect.

If you’re curious about this magical Japanese ingredient and want to learn more, please read the section below, right before the recipe card.

Ingredients You’ll Need

This recipe takes just 4 ingredients:

boneless, skin-on chicken thighs – find them at Japanese markets, or buy bone-in thighs and ask your butcher to debone them
shio koji
soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper

How To Make Shio Koji Chicken

You can pull off this incredibly tender chicken dish in just one hour!

Marinate the chicken thighs in shio koji and soy sauce for 30 minutes.
Wipe off the shio koji from the pieces of chicken.
Bake on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper until cooked through.
Broil the chicken until the skin has a nice char. Cut into pieces and serve.

How To Use Shio Koji in Recipes

Shio koji is a really versatile ingredient and condiment. I always keep one bottle in my fridge. You can marinate meats, make pickles, and flavor vegetables with it. Check out my delicious shio koji recipes on Just One Cookbook.

As I mentioned before, this fermented natural seasoning is made with just salt, water, and rice koji.

Rice koji or kome koji (米こうじ, 米糀, 米麹) is steamed rice that has been treated with koji mold spores (Aspergillus oryzae, koji-kin 麹菌, or koji starter).

Koji – Mold That You’ve Eaten Before!

Koji is a specific strain of mold that’s been cultured for centuries. You may feel hesitant about this mold and wonder why we use it, but guess what? You have most likely eaten it already!

Koji is the key ingredient in miso, soy sauce, sake, mirin, rice vinegar, amazake, shochu, and today’s star, shio koji. Koji is rich in enzymes that break down starches and proteins in food, converting them into sugars and amino acids. This makes the food naturally sweet, aromatic, and rich in umami.

Shio Koji’s Health Benefits

As a live food with many health benefits (source), this natural, probiotic seasoning:

reduces the intake of salt
aids in digestion
clears the skin
has anti-aging properties
contains minerals, fiber, and vitamins

Where To Buy Shio Koji

I have shared several shio koji recipes, and readers tell me that it’s easy to find shio koji produced by Hikari Miso®. It comes in a convenient plastic bottle, and you can buy it at Japanese grocery stores and on Amazon. It’s also sold at H-Mart, a large Korean grocery chain, that has many locations throughout North America. You may find it on the shelf or in the refrigerated section.

When you open the bottle, you will immediately notice a sweet smell that reminds you of Japanese sake. With the help of all-natural koji, you will notice a significant flavor boost in your daily cooking!

How to Make Shio Koji at Home

It’s also incredibly easy to make yourself. Learn how to make shio koji at home!

Shio Koji Recipes to Try

Shio Koji Karaage – a must-try chicken karaage recipe for tender and savory Japanese fried chicken!
Shio Koji Yakisoba – a delicious twist on the stir-fried Japanese noodles
Simmered Kabocha with Shio Koji – Japanese squash/pumpkin with a burst of umami

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Shio Koji Chicken

4.72 from 50 votes Make the most tender and flavorful chicken thighs you've ever tasted with my fast, easy, and delicious Shio Koji Chicken! The secret is shio koji, a natural seasoning and key ingredient in Japanese cooking with many health benefits. Print Pin Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Marinating Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 1 hour Servings: 8 chicken thighs

Ingredients US CustomaryMetric 1x2x3x

▢ 8 pieces boneless, skin-on chicken thighs (or use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and ask the butcher to remove the bones)
▢ 1 cup shio koji
▢ 1 Tbsp soy sauce
▢ freshly ground black pepper

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here. Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Gather all the ingredients.

To Marinate

Combine 1 cup shio koji and 1 Tbsp soy sauce in a bowl or measuring cup.
Season both sides of 8 pieces boneless, skin-on chicken thighs with freshly ground black pepper.
Pour the shio koji mixture on the chicken pieces and coat them well on both sides. Cover and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (minimum) or up to 3 hours.

To Bake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Remove the shio koji as much as possible and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
If your oven doesn‘t come with a temperature probe, you can use a ThermoWorks Chef Alarm. Insert the stem of the probe into the thickest part of the chicken, or in the center of the chicken if it is even in thickness.
Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches to 165ºF (74ºC), roughly 25 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked through, change the oven setting from Bake to Broil. Broil the chicken until the skin has nice char, about 3–5 minutes (depends on how far the chicken is from the heat source). Remove from the oven.
Cut each chicken thigh into 4 pieces (if you eat with chopsticks) and serve immediately.

To Store

You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and in the freezer for 2–3 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 273 kcal · Carbohydrates: 2 g · Protein: 18 g · Fat: 19 g · Saturated Fat: 5 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 111 mg · Sodium: 657 mg · Potassium: 232 mg · Sugar: 4 g · Vitamin A: 88 IU · Calcium: 9 mg · Iron: 1 mg Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen Course: Main CourseCuisine: JapaneseKeyword: chicken, shio koji ©JustOneCookbook.com Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any website or social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.