Chinese Chicken Salad

Chinese Chicken Salad

Most of you that know me outside of work will have undoubtedly come to the conclusion that, I love food!
For those of you in the northern hemisphere, this may not seem all the appealing with the cold-weather setting in.  Those of us in the southern hemisphere are, as they say in Oz, just hotting up!  It is springtime and with the warm weather comes the need for a cool salad.  This Chinese chicken salad is definitely one of my favorite salads.

This particular salad came about many years ago when we lived in Los Angeles.  I was working in Westwood and about four or five blocks away from work was this tiny little Asian takeaway that could barely fit three or four people inside to get their order.  About the only thing they sold was this wonderful Chinese Chicken Salad.  It was love at first bite. That weekend I drove Oliana down to Westwood to Seven Seas takeaway to try my new find.

Of course, the next thing we did was try to make our own salad.  The drive from Glendale to Westwood is nearly two hours during high traffic. (Yes, I used to commute four hours a day for work!) Anyway, I digress.

I have changed a few things like the lettuce.  The place in Westwood uses Cos Lettuce in their salad, but I like Chinese Cabbage better.  You can make the choice yourself.  They also put very yummy fattening deep fried won ton pieces in theirs.  I have opted for the healthier option and left them out.  In addition, the sesame dressing is not exactly the same, but it is very close and oh so yummy.

I hope you enjoy learning to make this wonderful salad and then have even more joy eating it!

The Sesame Dressing

Here is a picture of some of the ingredients for the sesame dressing.  Rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, cold pressed sunflower oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper and some sugar to offset the vinegar.

 The first step is to dissolve the sugar in the vinegar.  Put the vinegar and sugar in a small sauce pan and heat until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and set aside to let it cool.

Mix the sunflower oil, sesame oil, salt, pepper and soy sauce in a separate bowl and wait for the vinegar and  sugar mixture to cool before adding it to the oils.

Pour all the ingredients into a salad dressing jar to add to the salad later.
I like to keep the chicken and the dressing separate and add them together as I make each individual salad.  This will help the salad stay fresh and last longer in the fridge.

The Salad

The ingredients for the salad are pretty simple.

Chinese Cabbage or Cos Lettuce if you prefer.
Fresh Coriander (Cilantro)
Cucumber
Spring Onion

Here is the spring onion.  You probably won't find this variety in the store.  This is from my garden, and it is a red spring onion.  I really like them as they are milder and sweeter than your regular variety you buy in the store.  I'm only using these because I don't have to buy them.  I have used regular green onions many times, and it is just as good.

You should plant some of these spring onions.  They are easy to grow.  You can grow them in a pot if you don't have room anywhere else in the yard.

Chop the spring onions and set aside.

A bunch of Coriander (Cilantro).  I'm using a whole bunch because I'm making quite a large salad to last us a few days.

Finely chopped Coriander.

This is a continental cucumber and is quite long.  If you are making the normal recipe size, you can use half of this size of cucumber.  But then again, it is for you to choose what you like.

First, peel the cucumber.  Then, slice the cucumber lengthwise.  Don't cut all the way through to the end.  Cut two slices about a 1/4 of an inch apart down the length of the cucumber then turn it 1/4 of a turn on its side and do the same two slices again.

Then cut across the cucumber.

 You end up with diced cucumber of about 1/4 inch squares.

I do a similar cut with the cabbage.  Start at about the middle of the cabbage and make a cut lengthwise all the way through the cabbage.  Then turn it a 1/4 of a turn and make another slice.

Then slice the cabbage across it in 1/4 inch thick slices.

The cabbage was very large, so I only used about 2/3 of it.  Mix all your salad ingredients together and then put into a serving bowl.  Don't mix in the sesame dressing.

Ready for prime time.

The Chicken

I'm using a whole chicken because I'm making such a large salad.  However, when I make the salad according to the recipe, I use two boneless chicken breasts.  You don't want your chicken to be rubbery so don't boil it to death.  What I do is bring a pot of water to boil. (enough to cover the chicken) Put your chicken into the pot of boiling water.  The water will stop boiling so bring it back to a boil.  Let it boil for 10 minutes then turn the heat off and cover with the lid of the pot and let sit.  A whole chicken takes about 2-3 hours to cook this way.  Two chicken breast will be done in about 30 minutes.  The chicken will be tender and juicy.

Oh, and keep the left over water for chicken stock.  I'll share that recipe later.

Shred your chicken and then refrigerate.

Serve some salad onto a plate.  Put some shredded chicken on top of the salad.  I like to add a few sliced almonds on top of the chicken.  Then pour over some of the sesame dressing after shaking it really well.

A really yummy lunch or dinner.

Here is the recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/PersonalRecipe/63363996/Chinese-Chicken-Salad/Detail.aspx