Crunchy Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Submitted by LifeIsGood

"A Food and Wine magazine staff favorite! Leave the seeds in the serrano chile if you like the heat/spice!"

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 19
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons asian fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon asian fish sauce
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 serrano chili, minced (with or without seeds, your choice on heat level)
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup vegetable oil, for frying
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
• kosher salt, to taste
• 4 cups finely shredded green cabbage (from 1/2 small head)
• 2 carrots, finely shredded
• 1⁄2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1⁄4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1⁄4 cup coarsely chopped mint
• 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (from about 1/2 chicken)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped unsalted dry roasted peanuts

directions

1. Stir together the sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar, water, chile and garlic until the sugar dissolves. Let stand for about 5 minutes.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the shallots and cook over med.-high to high heat, stirring, until golden (don't let them burn!) - about 4 minutes or so. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Let cool.
3. In a big bowl, toss the cabbage, carrots, onion, cilantro, mint and chicken.
4. Add the olive oil and dressing (the sugar, fish sauce, etc -- combination) and toss.
5. Sprinkle with the peanuts and shallots. Serve with the lime wedges.
6. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Linky]

Absolutely delish! My mint was dried, fresh would have been good, too! ZWT9 Soup-a-Stars

 

[Mia in Germany]

Adorable salad! The only change I made was to fry some chicken breast halves myself because I didn't have rotisserie chicken on hand. We had this for dinner and absolutely loved it. Thanks for posting! I'll make this again :)<br/>Made for ZWT 9 / SE Asia for The Apron String Travelers

 

[IngridH]

I really liked this salad. It was very easy to make, and had wonderful texture from all of the different ingredients- the crunch of the peanuts, shallots and cabbage and onion compared to the juiciness of the chicken and herbs. The dressing was wonderful- I love the combination of fish sauce and lime juice; although I think I'd use rice vinegar next time instead of plain white vinegar. Overall, a wonderful dish for lunch or a light supper, especially with a glass of white wine on the patio on a summer day. Thanks for posting!

 

[Gerry]

This is a wonderful tasting Chicken Salad! The ingredients come together and make for super delicious. Perfect for summer!! Thank you we enjoyed every bite.

 

[lecole54]

As a friend of ours' two-year-old observed recently, "Yo ho ho and a bottle of yum!" This is just wonderful! The french-fried shallots are a delicious touch!Forgot to add the red onions and the olive oil; didn't miss 'em a bit, although I'll probably remember to next time -- which is likely to be *very* soon! Thanks for posting.