Chinese Chicken Salad

The hero of this Chinese Chicken Salad is the Asian Dressing and crunchy noodles. It can make any bowl of fresh greens devilishly moreish! Made with cabbage, carrots, green onions and chicken, finished with sesame seeds, this is terrific for packed lunches as it keeps well for days!

This is my most made faux Asian salad. It’s “faux” because it’s in no way authentic Chinese and that’s totally ok. I love it anyway because it’s so delish, and it’s a good way to make me inhale large volumes of fresh greens.

The Asian salad dressing I use in this salad is based on a recipe by David Chang of Momofuku. It’s made with all manner of Asiany ingredients – soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, garlic and ginger – but there’s plenty of flex here which I’ve jotted down in the recipe notes.

I love the fresh hit of ginger and garlic in the dressing but I quite often make this salad using my standby simple Asian Sesame Dressing. Made with just soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, oil and sugar, it keeps for days, weeks even. It would be unusual if I didn’t have a jar of this lurking in the dark depths of my fridge at all times!

Ingredients
ASIAN DRESSING

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 1)
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar (aka rice wine vinegar, or use cider vinegar)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil (toasted)
• 2 tbsp grapeseed oil (or canola or any other neutral flavored oil)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger , grated or very finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove , minced
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

SALAD

• 4 cups Chinese cabbage (Nappa Cabbage), finely shredded (Note 2)
• 1 1/2 cups red cabbage , finely shredded
• 1 cup carrot , finely julienned (see video)
• 2 cups chicken , shredded
• 1/2 cup shallots / scallions , finely sliced on the diagonal

GARNISHES

• 1/2 to 1 cup crunchy noodles (I use Chang's) (Note 3)
• 1 - 2 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

• Combine the Dressing ingredients in a jar and shake. Set aside for 10 minutes or so for the flavours to meld.
• Place the Salad ingredients together in a large bowl along with half the crunchy noodles. Drizzle over dressing then toss. (Note 4)
• Divide between serving bowls. Top with more crunchy noodles and a good sprinkle of sesame seeds. Serve immediately!

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