Food Love - Vietnamese Chicken Salad

I just love Asian food and I've tried lots of different Vietnamese chicken salad recipes at restaurants and take away shops but I'd never made my own at home...until last night!

It all came about a few weeks ago when I was styling a beautiful client and making over her wardrobe. Her lovely partner came home when we were about half way through her styling session and he brought with him a delicious Vietnamese chicken salad for us to share (what a legend!) - styling or being styled can make you hungry you know! :)

I absolutely devoured it! It was delicious and ever since then I've been wanting to replicate it!

Then last week as I was flicking through the channels on the TV, Julie Goodwin appeared on one of my favourites programs, Everyday Gourmet...and what was she making? VIETNAMESE CHICKEN SALAD! Needless to say, I just had to watch it!

So fast forward a few days with a trip to the local markets and the supermarket to last night when I finally whipped up this delicious concoction. Might I add that salads are just perfect for dinner as the weather heats up and if they're healthy, delicious and quick to whip up then I'm sold!

This recipe calls for a lot of sugar so next time I make it I think I'll halve the quantity and just reduce the dressing for longer on the stove to try and obtain the same amount of sweetness. I also doubled the dressing recipe so that we can have the salad again for lunch or dinner tonight but this time we'll fry up some green prawns to replace the chicken.

I should also let you know that I made the dressing about an hour before so that it had plenty of time to cool down in the fridge.

Anyway, give it a go and let me know what you think! My husband gave it the big thumbs up!! (phew!)....you known what they say, "Happy husband, happy life"...hang on, I know its something like that! Lol!

Megan x

Vietnamese Chicken Salad - By Julie Goodwin for Everyday Gourmet

½ cup white vinegar

½ cup white sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce (more to taste if necessary)

1 small red chilli, sliced

1 clove garlic, sliced

½ packet dried vermicelli noodles

1/3 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil

4 small or 3 large chicken thigh fillets, trimmed of fat and cut into thin strips

2 Lebanese cucumber, sliced with a peeler

12 green beans, sliced thinly on the diagonal

½ bunch mint leaves, roughly chopped

½ bunch coriander leaves

2 tablespoons crispy fried garlic (or crispy fried shallots if garlic isn’t available)

Method

1.  In a pot over high heat, place the vinegar and sugar with ¼ cup water. Bring to the boil and boil for about 3 minutes until starting to thicken. Remove from the pot to a bowl, and add the fish sauce, chilli and garlic.

2.  Leave to cool.

3.  Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave to stand for two minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

4.  In a frypan over medium-high heat, toast the peanuts until golden with some little blackened bits.

5.  Remove from the pan. Add the oil to the pan and stir-fry the chicken until golden and cooked through. Remove from the pan.

6.  In a bowl mix the Lebanese cucumber, green beans, noodles, and most of the mint and coriander leaves.

7.  Toss with a little of the fish sauce dressing. Place the saladin a bowl and top with the chicken, fried garlic and peanuts.

8.  Drizzle a little more dressing over and top with some extra

9.  Coriander and mint leaves. Serve immediately.