Why This Recipe Works

We give the bright, briny Italian classic a Japanese-inspired makeover, swapping the usual white wine for mirin and building the sauce with savory white miso. Halving chicken breasts into thin cutlets and cutting them into pieces gives us quick-cooking, sauce-grabbing planks, and a light coating of cornstarch helps them turn golden in the skillet while lending the sauce body. For a pan sauce with deep umami richness, we whisk miso and mirin into chicken broth and simmer it with the browned bits left behind from cooking the chicken. Capers and fresh lemon juice deliver piccata’s signature tang, and swirling in butter off the heat pulls everything into a glossy sauce.

Before You Begin

Serve with steamed white rice.

Instructions

Halve 2 trimmed chicken breasts horizontally to create 4 cutlets. Working with 1 cutlet at a time, place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound to even ½-inch thickness, then slice each cutlet into 3 pieces. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Spread ½ cup cornstarch in shallow dish. Coat chicken lightly with cornstarch, shaking off excess.

Whisk ¾ cup chicken broth, 3 tablespoons mirin, and 2 tablespoons white miso together in bowl until miso is dissolved; set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and thinly sliced whites of 2 scallions to now-empty skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add miso mixture, scraping up any browned bits. Simmer until slightly reduced, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon capers, chopped, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice and simmer for 30 seconds longer.

Off heat, whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons butter until sauce is smooth and glossy. Return chicken to skillet and toss to coat. Sprinkle with thinly sliced greens of 2 scallions and serve.