Mai Fun Salad with Chicken

Submitted by annbb

"A good friend of mine who is also an excellent cook served this elegant but very easy-to-make salad at a luncheon years ago. She shared her recipe and I've been using it with great success ever since. It is delicious and everyone who tries it loves it! It's a great brunch or luncheon entree and also is good on a buffet table. It's an easy recipe to double and if you're asked to bring a salad, it travels well and is easy to assemble. I always make extra dressing for the table."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• Salad

• 1 head romaine lettuce, torn,washed and dried
• 2 chicken breast halves
• 1 bunch scallion, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1⁄4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 1⁄4 ounces packages mai fun rice noodles (Sai Fun bean noodles also works if you can't find Mai Fun)
• canola oil, for frying the mai fun noodles

• Salad dressing

• 3 -6 tablespoons sugar (to your taste, I use about 3 T.)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lemon, juice of
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1⁄4 cup canola oil, not olive oil

directions

1. The day before: Steam the chicken breasts until cooked through, about 20 to 30 minutes.
2. While they are steaming, mix together the dressing ingredients (if you have a hand blender, emulsify them) and set aside.
3. When chicken breasts halves are just cool enough to handle, shred them and place in a zip-loc bag.
4. Pour dressing over the chicken.
5. Press as much air as possible out of the bag and marinate overnight (in the refrigerator), turning over once or twice.
6. Toast the almonds and sesame seeds in separate pans in a 300º oven until evenly browned.
7. Stir them often and watch carefully as they both burn quickly.
8. Cool and store in the refrigerator.
9. The next day: In a small pot, heat 1 1/2- 2 inches oil until very hot.
10. Drop in small amounts of Mai Fun noodles and watch them puff up!
11. (takes about a second).
12. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels.
13. Do this just before serving if at all possible.
14. (If it's necessary to do ahead of time, let the puffed noodles cool completely and store in a ziploc bag or other air-tight container till ready to serve.) Put lettuce and scallions in a large bowl.
15. Pour chicken and dressing over lettuce.
16. Add oranges, almonds and sesame and toss to mix well.
17. Top with Mai Fun noodles and serve.