Vietnamese Chicken Salad

This is the first recipe I tried out as part of my 101 in 1001 challenge (nr 023).

So to kick off (and in a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to lure the summer sun to the Western Cape), I've decided on the Vietnamese Chicken Salad out of Bowl Food (pg 23).

It was nice & refreshing, although I made a note to self to keep a closer eye on the chicken next time, as it was slightly overdone. I added a few tweaks here and there, like stirfrying the chicken strips in lemon juice instead of poaching the whole breasts in lemongrass-infused water, and also adding a dash of plumsauce right at the end for moisture, but all in all the recipe stayed mostly the same.

Anyway, here's the recipe, as it's supposed to be made:

Serves 4

375g skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
4 1/2 cups Chinese cabbage, thinly sliced
1 carrot, cut into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons peanuts, chopped
1 tablespoon crisp, fried shallots

1. Place the chicken and lemongrass in a deep frying pan of lightly salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 8 - 10 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. Drain and keep warm.

2. Place the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice & sweet chilli sauce in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat for 1 minute or until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat.

3. Place the cabbage, carrot, onion, coriander & mint in a large bowl and toss together well. Drizzle over 3/4 of the warmed dressing, toss to combine and transfer to a serving platter.

4. Slice the chicken thinly and diagonally arrange over the top of the salad and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Garnish with the extra coriander leaves, chopped peanuts & fried shallots. Serve immediately.