Posts tagged fish sauce

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

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his recipe was required on a warm summer evening when a healthy dinner was the priority but sustenance was a must. I took inspiration for this from one of the simplest and freshest salads I greedily devoured at an Asian supper club I went to last year. If you haven’t been to or heard of Uyen Luu and her culinary adventures then I highly encourage you to head over to her website (see here). But not yet…read my blog post and cook this recipe first!

This recipe is all about the freshness, variety and abundance of herbs – these are vital and will either make or break the dish. Uyen’s version is far cleaner, using poached chicken that she shreds and stirs throughout the salad. This is ideal as a fresh starter but my hunger and craving demanded something crispier and oiler so I opted to fry my tender succulent chicken strips. I also opted for a punchier dressing, using lime, sesame and soy, than Uyen’s simpler version but both are eqaully as delicious.

One thing we do share is the need for prawn crackers here. Personally if you can’t get hold of the big, golden ones they offer in the best Thai restaurants, then the cheaper the better! And I suggest you buy 2 bags as if you’re anything like me the first bag gets demolished during cooking.

Tip – If you really want to make this salad to its best (and generally for a must-have in the any keen cooks kitchen pantry) then I strongly recommend you buy a julienne peeler noted below. They might occasionally shave your fingers off (beware – they’re sharp!) but hey…its worth it for such a great salad.

Serves 2

Salad

  • 2 chicken breast, cut into thin strips
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 courgettes
  • Large bunch basil, leaves picked
  • Large bunch mint, leaves picked
  • Large bunch coriander
  • Large handful salted, roasted peanuts, lightly crushed.
  • Prawn crackers to serve

Picked Onions

  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 3 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 3 tsp caster sugar
  • Salt and pepper

Dressing

  • 1 large garlic clove, crushed
  • 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
  • 1 large red chilli, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tsp runny honey
  1. Start with the onions. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a shallow bowl and add the sliced onion. Season, combine and set aside for 20-30 minutes.
  2. To make the dressing, combine the ingredients in a jam jar and shake well. Taste. This is vital as everyones soy sauce is different (low salt, normal, high quality, low quality etc) so all dressings will taste different. Add more lime/soy/fish sauce to taste. Don’t be afraid to go punchy as it will need to told its own when applied to the salad.
  3. Make the salad. (Using a julienne peeler will give you the best results here (see here), but if you’re patient, then you can very very finely slice the carrots and courgettes into strips. Alternatively, you could use a courgetti machine but it won’t give you quite what you want here.) Julienne the carrots and courgettes into a large bowl. Chop the herbs roughly together and add 3/4 of them to the bowl. Add the roasted, chopped peanuts.
  4. Drain the onions after 20-30 minutes of steeping and add all but a handful of these to the salad. Mix all to combine well and set aside while you cook the chicken.
  5. Heat a frying pan until hot and add a splash of vegetable/sunflower oil. Season the chicken strips and fry on a high heat until just cooked and golden but still moist.
  6. Remove from the heat and use forks to pull the chicken into strips.
  7. Dress the salad quickly with the dressing.
  8. Divide the salad between two bowls and top with the succulent chicken (or you can stir the chicken throughout the salad). Scatter over the raminaing handful of red onions and herbs.
  9. Serve with prawn crackers and devour with chop sticks.

 

Crispy Asian Beef

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f you’re intending on sticking to or continuing to stick to a healthy diet this month after the indulgences of Christmas then I recommend Asian food as a good go to. It packs a reliant punch on flavour without compromising on health and nutrition. Not to mention that this is a really quick recipe and can be served out in about 20 minutes.

As a passionate cook and appreciator of food I have always been the type to savour my meals either for flavour or appreciation for the time and effort spent creating it – either by myself or more importantly a fellow cook. However, I can’t help but notice that many of us eat too fast. Not only does this encourage us to be unappreciative of the food, time and effort that hasĀ gone into making it but you cannot appreciate and savourĀ the flavours. Sticking to the topic of nutrition and health this month, on a nutritional side the faster you eat the more chance you have of overeating. Eating slowly allows your stomach to register satiety at the right time. It also helps improve your digestion. Hand in hand with this I also recommend chewing your mouthfuls more to aid speed and digestion. Just putting down your fork (or chopsticks) after eat mouthful to enjoy, talk to your dinner friends and take your time is such a great habit to get into.

That said, a great way to get into this habit if using chopsticks! Not only is it fun and authentic but if you’re anything like me and still learning you can’t help but eat slowly…if at all. So obviously have a fork ready to hand to prevent starvation.

NOTE: Quite without meaning to I’ve created a gluten free meal using my stash of ‘Clearspring Gluten Free Brown Rice Noodles’. Asain food is a great go-to is your are gluten free. As I say, it packs a punch on flavour without compromising nutritional requirements.

Serves 2

  • 250g beef mince
  • 1 thumb size knob ginger, finely shredded
  • 1 large garlic clove, crushed
  • 1/2 red chilli (hotter the better here)
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1tsp fish sauce
  • Bunch coriander, chopped
  • Bunch basil, chopped
  • 4 spring onions, chopped
  • 100g ‘Clear Spring’ ‘Gluten free brown rice noodles’
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Juice 1 lime
  • Serve: I recommend a nice lime juice covered fresh crispy salad e.g. Cos lettuce, grated carrot, bean sprouts, cucumber etc
  1. Submerge and soak the noodles in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Set aside kept warm until ready to serve.
  2. Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan or wok on a high heat. Add the beef mince and use a spatula to break up the pieces into chunks. then add the star anise. Fry on a high heat for about 5 minutes until the mixture begins to brown well and crisp up. Keep an eye on it moving the mince around continuously.
  3. After about 5 minutes when well browned add in the ginger, garlic and red chilli and continue to fry on a high heat until the meat is really browned and crispy as below.
  4. After about 5-10 minutes add the soy sauce, sesame oil and fish sauce and stir to combine. Cook until really dark and crispy to your liking.
  5. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped spring onions, coriander and basil
  6. Drain the noodles and squeeze over the lime juice and add the sesame oil
  7. Serve the noodles in warm bowls and top with your crispy beef piece and a lovely crunchy fresh salad.
  8. Jess - Crispy Asaian Beef 2