Recipe video above. Big, juicy, slaw-like salad with chicken, and singing with signature Vietnamese flavours: Lots of fresh herbs and a zingy Nuoc Cham salad dressing. I like cutting the chicken into thin batons so it sort of blends into the cabbage - and it makes less goes further!Don't skimp on the herbs and peanuts here. It really brings added freshness and texture to the dish.This will serve 3 hungry adults or 4 normal servings (as a meal). Skip the chicken for a perfect Vietnamese side salad.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Course: Salad meal
Cuisine: Modern Vietnamese
Keyword: Chicken Salad, Vietnamese salad
Servings: 3- 4 as main
Calories: 440cal
Author: Nagi
Ingredients
Salad:
350g/12ozcooked chicken, cut into thin batons (2 large cooked breasts, Note 1)
1/4cupfish sauce(sub light or all purpose soy sauce)
1/4cupcanola oil(or vegetable, grapeseed, peanut)
1tbspwhite sugar
1large garlic clove, very finely minced
2tspred chilli, deseeded then very finely minced (birds eye or Thai Red Chilli best, Note 3)
Finishing:
1/2cuppeanuts, roasted unsalted, finely chopped (~1/3 cup once chopped, Note 5)
Instructions
Dressing: Shake Dressing ingredients in a jar. Set aside 10 minutes to let flavours meld.
Toss: Place all Salad ingredients in a very large bowl. Pour over half the Dressing and toss well. Set aside 5 minutes (veg will soften slightly, making it more "slaw-like").
Toss again: Just before serving, toss again then add most of the remaining Dressing. Taste then add more Dressing if you want.
Serve sprinkled with lots of peanuts! (Note 6)
Notes
1. Chicken - Any cooked chicken is fine here, I just used both breasts from a store bought roast chicken. If cooking your own, use my Foolproof Juicy Poached Chicken (it is excellent for this recipe because the breast is so tender it "flops" and really melds in with the rest of the salad!)To cut into batons, cut slices then cut the slices into batons about 1/2cm / 1/5" thick. The drier bits of chicken will end up sort of shredding which is ok too.2. Wombok cabbage / Chinese cabbage - also called Napa Cabbage in some countries. See video for how I shred this cabbage - cut two slits then finely shred. I only use the top 2/3 as the base tends to be a bit too thick and crunchy with stems (but ideal to use in stir fries and stir fried noodles!).Best sub is iceberg lettuce but serve immediately, do not set aside for 5 minutes before serving as instructed in recipe. Green cabbage will also work but you will need to toss with some dressing and set aside to let it wilt for 30 min or so before adding rest of ingredients. 3. Chilli - 2 teaspoons gives this a slightly warm tickle and is not really spicy. Split in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds then finely chop.If you're concerned about spiciness, use the large red chillies instead (cayenne pepper), they are less spicy. If you don't want spicy at all, skip it (but a hint of heat really is great in this!)Chilli for salad - An optional extra for visual aesthetics and an extra hint of heat, use a large red chilli (cayenne pepper) in the salad as well. Cut in half, scrape out seeds, then finely slice into strips.4. Coriander/cilantro and mint - Really jam pack the leaves into a cup to measure them out. When not tightly packed in, you're measuring out only half needed amount. We want to use lots! Fresh herbs are key to Vietnamese food!Mint - I use ordinary mint here not Vietnamese mint (which has a bit of a peppery flavour and is a bit much when used in large volumes like I do here)5. Peanuts - Use roasted, unsalted, and finely chop it so you get some "dust" (my favourite because it soaks right through into the salad!)Peanut alternative - Cashews are best, though sunflower seeds or pepitas would be lovely too!6. Serving: If serving individually, sprinkle each serving with a generous amount of peanuts. If letting people help themselves, sprinkle the salad with half the peanuts and have extra so people can help themselves for their own bowls. Remember: do not skimp on the peanuts!7. Storage - It won't keep so well once dressed, as the cabbage will wilt quite heavily and drop water. If you want to make ahead, chop all your ingredients and simply dress at the last minute.8. Nutrition per serving, assuming 3 (very big) servings.