Chinese Chicken & Cabbage Salad

📝 Ingredients

• 500 g chicken breast
• 1 chicken stock cube + 1 L cold water
• 160 g rice vermicelli (dry weight)
• ½ Chinese cabbage (about 400 g)
• 2 carrots (about 120 g each)
• 3 spring onions
• 60 g unsalted roasted peanuts
• 4 tbsp soy sauce + 3 tbsp rice vinegar (for the dressing)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil + 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 garlic clove + 15 g fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• Colander
• Large mixing bowl
• Grater
• Frying pan
• Chopping board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Put the chicken breasts in the saucepan, cover with the litre of cold water and add the stock cube. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat, then turn down to low and poach for 12 minutes without boiling: only small bubbles should rise.
2. Meanwhile, remove any damaged outer leaves from the Chinese cabbage, then finely shred it into 5 mm strips, discarding the tough core. Peel and grate the carrots. Slice the spring onions, both white and green parts.
3. Make the dressing in the bottom of the large salad bowl: whisk the soy sauce, rice vinegar, both oils and the honey with a fork, then add the peeled and finely grated garlic and ginger. Mix until the honey has completely dissolved.
4. Toast the peanuts and sesame seeds in the dry frying pan over a medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant. Tip onto a plate, leave to cool, then roughly chop the peanuts.
5. After the 12 minutes of poaching, turn off the heat and leave the chicken in the stock for 10 minutes: it finishes cooking gently and stays tender. Lift it out, check it's no longer pink in the middle and leave to cool slightly on a plate.
6. Bring the stock to the boil and cook the vermicelli in it for the time given on the packet, usually 2 to 4 minutes. Drain in the colander, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking, shake well, then cut into thirds with a knife.
7. Shred the chicken with two forks. In the bowl, on top of the dressing, combine the vermicelli, cabbage, carrots, chicken and spring onions. Toss thoroughly so everything is well coated in the dressing: the cabbage will soften slightly.
8. Serve straight away or, better still, cover and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes so the flavours mingle. Only scatter over the peanuts and sesame at the last moment so they stay nice and crunchy.