One of my all time favourite dishes is a South East Asian chicken salad. This is a great thing to do with left over chicken. You can use roast chicken or poached or even a supermarket rotisserie one. I never get tired of the easy fresh flavours. Add noodles & my kids love it. You can also use the left overs to make fresh spring rolls.
This chicken marinade is a cheats version of that used to make traditional Chinese roast chicken & duck, which takes several days if done authentically. The flavours add to the balance of flavours & add lovely spices.
This dish can be made with tofu, fish or other protein if you prefer.
I have been making this dish for a long time. When the kids were little I would need to have chilli sauces to add as they wouldn't eat it yet.
I've been making chilli jam for this dish for around 15 yrs now. I make Annabel Langbein's one. It also goes well with cheese for crackers. While it does have a decent amount of sugar so not totally clean, you can leave it out & just use a chilli, fish sauce, lime juice dressing if you prefer & are concerned with reducing sugar. I just add a little & the rest of my diet is pretty sugar free.
Chilli Jam
Recipe
Makes 2 cups
Clean & sterilise 2-3 glass jars with lids
Ingredients
6-8 chillis
zest of 2 limes
1 head of garlic
1 thumb size piece of ginger
3 kaffir lime leaves
½ cup rice wine vinegar
2 ½ cup sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
½ cup water
Method
Roughly chop; chillis, ginger, peel garlic, devine kaffir leaves the chop, add all to a food processor, & process to a paste.
All all the ingredients to a pot, slowly bring to the boil stirring until the sugar dissolves. Simmer for 10mins until a has reduced by 1 third.
Pour into sterilised jars, let cool then seal. Store in the fridge.
Chicken Salad
Roast Chicken
Take 1 organic chicken, marinate with 3 slices of ginger, 2 cloves of garlic crushed, 1 tsp gin, 4 tsp sesame oil, salt, pepper, 2 tsp five spice. Rub the cavity of the chicken with the marinade, cover the outside of the chicken also, but most is in the cavity. Leave to marinate for 30mins - 1 hr.
Preheat the oven to 170 degree C.
Place chicken in the oven to roast breast side down. Roast until juice runs clear, around 1 hr for a medium sized bird.
While the chicken is roasting prepare the salad.
Soak noodles if using. I find thin rice noodles or bean thread vermicelli best. Once the chicken is nearly ready cook the noodles, making sure not to over cook. Drain them & drizzle with a little sesame oil to stop them sticking, then set aside.
Finely slice julienned;
1 carrot
1 red onion
1 handful of snow peas
½ red capscium
⅓ cucumber
¼ cabbage
Add to a bowl with;
1 handful mung bean sprouts
1 handful of torn coriander
1 handful of Vietnamese mint (optional)
1 bunch finely chopped mint
zest of lime
Other options;
Radishes sliced
Daikon sliced finely
Bok choi sliced finely
Fresh chilli
Add shredded chicken, noodles, toasted sesame seeds & peanuts or cashews chopped.
Dressing
In a jar mix;
1 ⅓ fish sauce
1 ⅓ lime juice
1 ⅓ sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Shake well, check balance of flavours to suit your taste, drizzle over salad & serve with chilli jam. Traditional the dressing would have sugar, I omit this as using chilli jam.
Enjoy
I love to make fresh spring rolls with any leftovers.
Add leftovers making sure to get some of each; carrot, red onion, chicken, vegetables, coriander. Place on a piece of soaked rice paper, roll up.
Serve with a fish sauce, sesame oil, lime juice dressing, & or thinned hoisin dipping sauces with chilli jam.
