Chicken Salad

Poached chicken torn by hand and dressed cold, with no heat anywhere near the finished bowl.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains chicken.

Ingredients

• 500 g chicken breast, on the bone if possible
• 1 litre water, for poaching, which is kept as stock
• 3 slices ginger
• 2 spring onions, halved
• 1 cucumber, in matchsticks

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons sesame paste
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon black vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon chilli oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste
• 3 tablespoons of the poaching liquid, cooled

Method

1. Bring the water to a simmer with the ginger and spring onions, lower the chicken in, and turn the heat off at once. Lid on, 25 minutes.
2. Lift the chicken out and cool it completely. Strain the poaching liquid and keep it — three spoonfuls go into the dressing and the rest is stock.
3. TEAR THE CHICKEN BY HAND along the grain into rough strips. Do not slice it: torn edges are ragged and hold dressing, where a knife gives you smooth faces it runs off.
4. Loosen the sesame paste with the cooled poaching liquid, a spoonful at a time. It will seize before it slackens.
5. Stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chilli oil and garlic.
6. Toss the chicken and cucumber through the dressing just before serving. Dressed early, the cucumber waters it down.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under China · All recipes