Asian Chicken Salad

Mmmmm yum yum my tastebuds are STILL reeling over this recipe. It's one of my favorites as it's SO easy, quick, and flavorful. You can also eat it in a number of ways. As an appetizer wrapped in lettuce, topped over rice or rice noodles, or my personal favorite...topped on a veggie salad.

I would recommend going to your local asian shop and buying a package of toasted rice powder. Not required for this recipe, but I HIGHLY recommend it. Your only looking at about $1 and it adds a tasty toasty nutty flavor.

Start out with 1lb chicken breasts or tenderloins. Put em in the freezer and wait until the edges start freezing solid. This will help the blender or food processor evenly grind the pieces. Once your chicken is ready, give a couple good pules in a blender or processor until chicken is ground nicely. Like grinding meat could be considered "nice" hehehe.

Next, spoon ground chicken in a bowl and stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce and 1 teaspoon red pepper paste or Siracha sauce (if your not a big fan of spicyness, stir in 1/2 teaspoon). Thai Kitchen makes a fabulous gluten free fish sauce.

Put the chicken mixture into the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes. Normally by the time I'm done preparing my salad, the meat is ready to be cooked.

When the chicken is ready to be cooked, in a medium skillet, warm up 1/4 cup chicken broth to a simmer. Spoon in the cold chicken and cook over medium heat. DO NOT, no matter how much you feel you need to... salt the chicken. The fish sauce provides plenty of saltiness and fullness of flavor. When the chicken is JUST about cooked (still pink in some areas)

squeeze in the juice of one lime and add some slivered red onions (equates to about 2 tablespoons)

then mix in 2 tablespoons minced cilantro, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Cook for another 5 minutes (or until the chicken broth is mostly gone and onions are tender). Now stir in 1 1/2 teaspoon toasted rice powder and remove from heat.

Yummy.

Like I said, you can serve this over rice, tossed with rice noodles, wrapped in lettuce leaves, or over a salad. I LOVE this on a salad. No dressing needed :) So fresh, flavorful, and simple.

ENJOY!

Recipe:

Asian Chicken salad

1 lb chicken breast or tenderloins

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon red pepper paste or Siracha Sauce

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons thinly sliced red onion

juice from 1 lime

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

1 1/2 teaspoons  toasted rice powder

Place chicken in the freezer. Remove and place in a blender or food processor once the edges of the chicken start to harden. Give a few pulses until chicken is ground. Mix 3 tablespoons fish sauce and 1 teaspoon red pepper paste with ground chicken in a bowl then place in refrigerator. Chill for approximately 15-20 minutes. After chicken has chilled, warm up  1/4 cup chicken broth in a skillet until it starts simmering. Add the chilled chicken and cook until the chicken is just about done (small bits of pink are still remaining). Add the lime juice, sugar, and cilantro. Stir well then add the toasted rice powder. Remove from heat and serve as desired.