Chinese chicken salad
A salad with little to do with China — it is usually credited to 1960s Los Angeles restaurants and in time became a Californian lunch classic. It works through contrasting textures: tender chicken, crunchy cabbage, juicy mandarins and fried strips of wonton wrapper, its signature. The chicken is poached gently, without boiling, so it stays juicy, and the crisps go on only at the plate, since in dressing they soften within a minute.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Chicken 30 min
- Wonton crisps 10 min
- Dressing 5 min
- Assembly 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 donePoach the chicken below a boil
Put the breast into cold salted water with a slice of ginger, bring to a boil, take off the heat and leave covered for 20 minutes. Cut into the thickest part: the meat must not be pink — if it is, heat it for a few minutes more. Breast finished in hot water stays juicy; boiled hard it turns dry and stringy.
Ingredients: 500 g chicken breast · 400 g napa cabbage · 150 g red cabbage · 1 pcs carrot · 3 pcs mandarins · 4 pcs spring onions · 4 tbsp coriander · 1 tsp salt
Shred the chicken with forks
Cool the breast and pull it into long strands with two forks. Torn, not cut — ragged strands absorb dressing far better than neat cubes.
Ingredients: 500 g chicken breast · 400 g napa cabbage · 150 g red cabbage · 1 pcs carrot · 3 pcs mandarins · 4 pcs spring onions · 4 tbsp coriander · 1 tsp salt
Pulled with forks — strands drink up the dressing.Fry the wonton strips
Cut the wrappers into 5 mm strips and fry in batches in the oil 30–40 seconds until golden (about 10 minutes for all the batches). Drain on paper and salt. They burn in a second — do not leave the pan.
Ingredients: 12 pcs wonton wrappers · 150 ml oil · 50 g flaked almonds · 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Thirty seconds — they burn in the blink of an eye.Shake the dressing in a jar
Put the vinegar, soy sauce, both oils, honey, ginger and crushed garlic in a jar and shake hard for 20 seconds, until cloudy. In a jar the emulsion forms in seconds, and the leftover dressing can be stored in it straight away.
Ingredients: 60 ml rice vinegar · 2 tbsp soy sauce · 2 tbsp sesame oil · 3 tbsp neutral oil · 2 tbsp honey · 20 g ginger · 1 clove garlic
Twenty seconds in a jar — the emulsion is done.Shred the cabbage very finely
Shred both cabbages into strips about 2 mm thick. Thick pieces are tough and do not take up dressing. The red cabbage is mainly for colour, hence less of it.
Ingredients: 500 g chicken breast · 400 g napa cabbage · 150 g red cabbage · 1 pcs carrot · 3 pcs mandarins · 4 pcs spring onions · 4 tbsp coriander · 1 tsp salt
Toss vegetables with chicken and dressing
Combine the cabbage, carrot, spring onion, chicken and coriander, pour over two-thirds of the dressing and toss by hand. Serve the rest separately — the cabbage releases a little water and the salad may need more.
Ingredients: 500 g chicken breast · 400 g napa cabbage · 150 g red cabbage · 1 pcs carrot · 3 pcs mandarins · 4 pcs spring onions · 4 tbsp coriander · 1 tsp salt
Add the mandarins gently
Lay the mandarin segments on top without tossing hard, or they break. Tinned mandarins, well drained, are typical of American restaurants; fresh ones give a livelier salad.
Ingredients: 500 g chicken breast · 400 g napa cabbage · 150 g red cabbage · 1 pcs carrot · 3 pcs mandarins · 4 pcs spring onions · 4 tbsp coriander · 1 tsp salt
Scatter the crisps just before serving
On the plates scatter the salad with the wonton strips, almonds and sesame. Always at the last moment — in dressing the crisps soften within a minute and lose the whole point of the salad.
Ingredients: 12 pcs wonton wrappers · 150 ml oil · 50 g flaked almonds · 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Before you start
Rice noodle crisps
Instead of wonton wrappers you can fry thin rice vermicelli — dropped into hot oil it puffs in a second into a white, crisp cloud. It is an equally classic topping for this salad.
Roast or grilled chicken
Leftover roast or grilled chicken is perfect here. Skip the poaching and tear the meat straight away.
Everything apart, combine to eat
Chicken, vegetables and dressing kept separately last up to three days in the fridge, the crisps a week in an airtight box at room temperature. Assembly then takes two minutes — an ideal packed lunch.
