Chinese Chicken Salad

Submitted by Sandi From CA

"A delightfully light chicken salad with just the right amount of crunch. I make this quite regularly as it's easy and really refreshing. And, ok, I'm addicted to it. ;o) If you can't get Napa cabbage, try iceberg lettuce, but don't use savoy cabbage or anything else; they're way too firm. Don't skip the exploding maifun rice noodles which are the hallmark of this salad. They can be found in any Asian market and some larger supermarkets. Dynasty is one brand of Maifun, aka rice sticks."

 

• Ready In: 22mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• FOR THE SALAD

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 4 teaspoons teriyaki sauce (or 1 tablespoon soy sauce plus 1 tsp. oyster sauce)
• 1 head napa cabbage
• 2 -3 stalks green onions, diagonally sliced thin
• 3 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted (optional)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (you can optionally toast them)
• 1⁄4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 3 ounces dried rice noodles ("Maifun" rice stick noodles at Asian markets)
• vegetable oil (for deep frying the rice sticks, about 3/4 cup)

• FOR THE DRESSING

• 1⁄8 cup light sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1⁄8 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (if white vinegar, can use less)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper

• FOR THE GARNISH

• fried wonton wrapper (strips) (optional)

directions

1. Parboil the chicken until cooked through. Let cool. Tear into very small pieces with your fingers (easier than cutting and looks better!) and stir fry with the teriyaki sauce for one minute. Set aside.
2. *** OR, you could cut the raw chicken up into 1-2" cubes and stir-fry with the teriyaki sauce until done, then shred by hand when cool.
3. Chop, not tear, the Napa cabbage into roughly 1/4" x 2" strips. Add the green onion, almond slivers, sesame seeds, cilantro and chicken and gently toss.
4. Heat the vegetable oil to 375F degrees. Test a couple of maifun noodles by dropping them in the hot oil; if they “explode” immediately, your oil is hot enough. Deep fry the remaining maifun noodles in batches (they puff up to 5 times their original size) and drain on paper towels. Be gentle… they’re fragile.
5. Combine all dressing ingredients in cruet and shake well. To serve, very gently fold noodles into salad, then add dressing at the last minute to maintain salad crispness. Top with fried wonton wrapper strips.

Reviews

[Chattes]

Sandy! This was so good. The salad had just the right portions. The dressing was light and tasty. It was really hot the day I made this so I poached the chicken in a bowl of water in the microwave and it worked very well.<br/>You weren't kidding about the rice noodles exploding! It was the first time I had ever attempted to use them and discovered the oil has to be the right temperature or they just sit in the pan and turn brown.<br/>Thank you for posting this recipe. It will be made several times this summer.

 

[Al Al]

This was my first time using the maifun rice sticks and it was a lot of fun! I used part cabbage and part lettuce for the salad, and only had dark sesame oil for the salad, but other than that I followed the directions and ended up with a delicious crunchy salad that I have made several times already! (I also have added mandarin oranges...)