Published:  11:06 Thursday - December 27, 2012

This cold shredded chicken, cabbage and carrot salad is the sort of Vietnamese equivalent of coleslaw. Served as an appetizer in many Vietnamese restaurants, it is tossed with rice vinegar or plain white vinegar dressing.

(Western wine vinegars should not be used, as their distinct flavours would be overpowering).  While the salad is best made with either freshly boiled or steamed chicken, leftover roast chicken is also acceptable. 

Although the vegetables are normally served raw, you can cure them in salt to tenderise them and at the same time gets rid of their excess water content.  They become more pleasant to the palate but still retain their necessary ‘crunch’.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon white rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 cups julienned green cabbage
• 1 tablespoon course sea salt
• 1 ½ cups julienned carrot
• 1 large shallot peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 or more red birds eye chillies, seeded and julienned
• 1 pound cooked chicken breast meat, shredded or thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup julienned mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted peanuts

Method

• Whisk together the fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar and sugar in a large bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• Toss the cabbage with 2 teaspoons of salt and the carrot with 1 teaspoon salt in separate bowls. Allow to stand for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse both vegetables. Place the cabbage and carrot in a clean kitchen towel, then twist and squeeze out any remaining water.
• Add the cabbage, carrot, shallot, garlic and chilli to the dressing. Mix well and allow to marinate for 20 minutes. Toss the chicken with 1 tablespoon of mint and mix well with the salad
• Serve the salad garnished with the peanuts and remaining mint

Source: Myvietnam