Asian Chicken Streetfood Salad
Serves 2-4
This Chinese- inspired recipe is a grain free and is simply shredded chicken dressed with a sauce that is as sweet as it is sour, nutty and salty all at the same time.
If you want to get ahead, it can be prepared a day in advance and so I have divided the recipe into two steps to show how easy this is to do. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients as the recipe is quite simple to prepare. If you wish to make the sauce in advance, you can simply strain off 150ml of the flavoured stock and use it to make the sauce, leaving the chicken to soak in the remaining 350ml.
What you need
500ml organic chicken stock (of which 120 ml will be used to make the sauce)
30g fresh ginger, chopped
2 star anises
4 organic chicken breasts, skins removed
1 cucumber, seeds removed, cut into thin strips
Small pack of pak choi leaves, finely sliced
1 carrot, cut into julienne strips
4 spring onions, cut diagonally into thin strips
1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely sliced (use half if you prefer less heat)
25g fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 limes cut into wedges (for serving)
Salt and pepper
For the sauce
3 tbsp nut butter (crunchy peanut butter or almond butter works best)
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp Tamari soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 small garlic clove, crushed
120ml chicken stock (reserved from the initial 500 ml of stock – see step 2)
½ tsp fresh ginger, grated
What you do
Step 1 Can be done 24 hours before making and assembling the salad to enable the flavours to be thoroughly absorbed by the chicken breasts.
- Bring 500mlof chicken stock to a rolling simmer in a roomy saucepan together with the chopped ginger, star anises and a little salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Poach the chicken breasts in the stock for approximately 20 minutesuntil cooked. Set aside to cool.
If you are making the salad in advance, you can leave the chicken in the stock for up to 24 hours.
Step 2
When you are ready to eat, or if you are eating the salad straight away after poaching the chicken, you can follow step 2 as soon as the chicken becomes cool enough to handle.
- Drain off the flavoured stock, reserving 120ml for the sauce.
- Shred the chicken into strips and set aside.
- In a large bowl combine all the sauce ingredients, slowly adding the reserved 120 ml of chicken stock until the sauce has a good pouring consistency. Taste and season accordingly.
- When you are ready to eat, assemble the salad by placing the cucumber, pak choi, carrot and spring onions into a large bowl with a little seasoning.
- Add the shredded chicken, finely sliced chilli, and half the chopped coriander (reserving the other half for dressing the salad).
- Add the pre-prepared sauce and combine thoroughly.
- Serve your salad with lime wedges on the side and a sprinkling of the leftover fresh coriander on top.
