coconut chicken salad
SERVES 4 PREPARATION TIME 30 minutes COOKING TIME 15 minutes
2 chicken breast fillets, trimmed 250ml (1 cup) coconut milk 1 lemongrass stalk, pale section only, roughly chopped 2 small fresh red chillies, halved, deseeded Peanut or vegetable oil, for deep-frying 200g French shallots, peeled, thinly sliced Chinese cabbage 1 medium cucumber, peeled into long thin lengths 1 red capsicum, halved, deseeded, thinly sliced 50g bean sprouts Bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked from stems 100g (⅔ cup) roasted peanuts
lime dressing
2 limes, juiced 1 tbsp fish sauce Ground black pepper, to taste
Place the chicken fillets, coconut milk, lemongrass and chillies into a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover saucepan with a lid, and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn the chicken fillets over and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and cool the chicken in the coconut milk.
Meanwhile, pour enough peanut or vegetable oil into a small saucepan to fill by a third. Heat the oil over medium heat until hot and deep-fry the sliced French shallots until golden. Drain on paper towel. Allow the oil to cool and then strain. Reserve 100ml of oil to make the lime dressing.
Meanwhile, remove the thick, dark outside leaves and inside core from the Chinese cabbage. Shred the cabbage very thinly. Combine the cabbage, cucumber, capsicum, bean sprouts, coriander leaves and peanuts in a large bowl.
To make the lime dressing, whisk together the reserved peanut or vegetable oil, lime juice and fish sauce. Season with pepper.
Toss the dressing through the salad and then transfer to a serving bowl. Thinly slice the cooled chicken across the grain and arrange over the salad. Sprinkle with the crisp French shallots and serve immediately with baby cos lettuce leaves.