Vietnamese Chicken Salad
Lunch or Dinner Side Dish Melds Flavors of Southeast Asian Cuisine
Feb 17, 2009
Q: Is there a good recipe for an Asian chicken salad? It's difficult finding one with a homemade dressing.
A: Tracey Seaman, a professional chef and frequent contributor to "Recipes," likes to prepare a simple Vietnamese chicken salad using finely shredded Chinese cabbage and thin slices of cooked chicken breast. The salad's unique flavor and colorful appearance come from the delightful mixture of mint, parsley, fresh vegetables and toasted peanuts. A tasty homemade dressing, made with rice-wine vinegar, fresh citrus juices, soy sauce and vegetable oil, adds the finishing touch to this salad. If you have any leftover salad dressing, place it in an airtight glass jar and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. For a vegetarian version of this salad, omit the chicken and serve the salad as a light lunch or dinner side dish.
RECIPE
Vietnamese Chicken Salad
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice-wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 5 1/2 cups (11 ounces) shredded Chinese cabbage
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
- 1 seedless cucumber, peeled and julienned
- 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
- 1 medium green bell pepper, julienned
- 1 medium red bell pepper, julienned
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted peanuts
Ingredients:
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the chicken breast to the simmering water, and poach the chicken until the meat is firm to the touch and the juices run clear when pricked with a fork, about 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the chicken from the water, and slice into thin strips lengthwise. Set the sliced chicken aside until ready to assemble the salad.
- Prepare the salad dressing: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the garlic, sugar, rice-wine vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, soy sauce and vegetable oil until the ingredients are well combined. Set the dressing aside until ready to assemble the salad.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cabbage, mint and parsley leaves, and place the cabbage mixture on a large serving platter. Top the cabbage mixture with the red onion, cucumber, carrot, green and red bell peppers, and the chicken slices. Drizzle the ingredients with the reserved salad dressing; garnish with peanuts and parsley sprigs, and serve.
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