Vietnamese chicken salad

Here’s a delicious and healthy poached shredded Vietnamese chicken salad recipe. It’s fresh, light, and has all those great SE Asian flavours that I love to get into my meals. I love poaching chicken, so easy and makes it juicy and tender. The recipe seems to have a lot of ingredients, but it’s honestly simple - just chopping and making a dressing.

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• 3 cups water or chicken broth

• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, smashed

• 1 stalk lemongrass, pressed and cut into 3 pieces (optional)

• 1 tbsp fish sauce

• 1 tsp salt

For the salad:

• 2 cups shredded green cabbage

• 1 cup shredded purple cabbage (for colour)

• 1 carrot, julienned or grated

• 1/2 cucumber, julienned

• 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

• big bunch fresh coriander leaves

• big bunch fresh mint leaves

• big bunch fresh Thai basil leaves (optional)

• couple handfuls roasted peanuts, crushed (or cashews for a twist)

For the dressing:

• 3 tbsp fish sauce

• 2 tbsp lime juice

• 1 tbsp rice vinegar

• 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 small red chilli, finely chopped (adjust for spice preference)

Method:

1. In a saucepan, combine water or broth, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, fish sauce, and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer. Add the chicken breasts, cover, and simmer on low for 10–12 minutes until cooked through.

2. Remove chicken, let it cool slightly, then shred it using two forks.

3. Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Adjust seasoning to taste.

4. In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken with the cabbage, carrot, cucumber, red bell pepper, onion, and herbs.

5. Drizzle over the dressing and toss everything well. Top with crushed peanuts and extra herbs. Serve immediately or let it sit for 10–15 minutes to allow the flavours to meld.

Enjoy the crunch, tang and lovely flavours, this is such a favourite of mine!