This is a great dish for using up left over roast chicken or if you simply fancy something light, fresh and vibrant for lunch. If you want something a little bit ‘meatier’ you could substitute the chicken for grilled ribeye or duck slices as well. And feel free to experiment with using different vegetables. Raw green beans, gem lettuce and baby sweetcorn would work equally well in this dish.
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 chicken breasts (or left over chicken meat)
- 1/2 red onion
- 1/2 red chilli
- 1/3 cucumber
- 3 spring onions
- a small handful of bean sprouts
- 2 bokchoi
- a small handful of coriander
For the dressing:
- soy sauce
- fish sauce
- toasted sesame oil
- honey
- white wine or rice vinegar
- 1/2 small clove of garlic
- fresh ginger (half a thumb’s size)
METHOD:
If you’re using fresh chicken rather than leftovers, start by cooking the chicken breasts. Slice the breasts in half lengthways (this will reduce the cooking time), season generously with salt and pepper, add some oil to a frying pan and cook the chicken over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes each side or until no pink remains. Set aside when cooked.
Next, make the dressing. Add a tablespoon of soy sauce to a bowl, followed by a table spoon of vinegar, a dessert spoon of fish sauce, a teaspoon of honey and a teaspoon of the sesame oil. Crush in the garlic and grate in the fresh ginger, mix together well and set aside.
Now it’s really just a case of cutting up the veg and assembling the salad. Slice the red onion as fine as you can and add to a large salad bowl. Do the same with the chilli. Now add most of the dressing and mix together. The vinegar and salt in the soy sauce will start to take the kick out of the raw spring onion. Next, cut the cucumber in half lengthways, scrape out the seeds from the centre, then cut into 0.5cm slices. Take the spring onions and slice them thinly from top to bottom so you end up with long, thin strips and add to the bowl. Finally, cut the bokchoi into thin slices, tear off the coriander leaves and grab a handful of the beansprouts and add to the bowl as well.
To finish, cut or tear the chicken into small strips and add to the bowl, give everything a good toss and finish off with a bit more of the dressing if needed.
