Granted it’s not quite the weather for such a summery dish, but sometimes you just can’t take any more soups, stews, pies (gasp) or roasts.
I can’t remember where this came from, I think it’s a Donna Hay number but it could just as easily be from Bill Granger.
Vietnamese Chicken Salad
- 3 chicken breasts
- 3-4 cups chicken stock
- 8-10 peppercorns
- several sticks of fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tblsp caster sugar
- 50ml fish sauce
- 2-4 long chillies, seeded and shredded
- 1/2 small cabbage, shredded (or Chinese cabbage)
- good handful each of Vietnamese mint, Thai basil, coriander, spearmint
- handful unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
- Place stock, peppercorns, and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer
- Season the chicken with a little salt and poach for 15 minutes
- Cool in the stock
- Make the dressing – the longer it gets to stand, the better it tastes
- Drain the chicken and shred with your fingers
- Combine chicken, cabbage, herbs and peanuts and drizzle over the dressing
- Serve immediately.
Obviously this has infinite variations – I like adding some bean shoots for extra crunch and sometimes julienned carrot and cucumber. You know, whatever’s in the veggie drawer really.