Thai Chicken Rice Salad

English_Rose's Note:

A fresh-tasting rice salad with plenty of herbs. It's not hot or spicy, but it's bursting with flavour. The salad will keep for a day in the fridge.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil or 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 2 small red Thai red chili peppers , de-seeded and chopped
• 4 scallions , trimmed and sliced
• 1 ¼ lbs cooked jasmine rice (cook 7oz rice to get this amount)
• 1 lb cooked chicken , shredded
• 1 ounce fresh mint leaves , roughly chopped
• 1 ounce fresh cilantro leaves
• 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves , finely sliced (or preserved lime leaves from jar)
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 ounce toasted salted cashews (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare the lemongrass. Peel off the hard outer layers, trim the base, slice very finely then bash with a knife to bruise them and release the flavour and scent.
2. Heat a frying pan or wok over a fairly high heat. Add the oil, prepared lemongrass, chili and scallions, and cook for 2 minutes Set aside.
3. Put the rice, chicken, mint, cilantro, lime leaves and warm lemongrass mixture into a bowl and toss gently to mix.
4. Whisk together the lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and sesame oil. Pour over salad and mix gently.
5. Chill before serving, if preferred. Spoon salad into small bowls. Sprinkle with cashew nuts, if you like.