12 Vietnamese Chicken Salad (for Song2519)

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

This recipe came from an admirer of Song2519 in Bangkok, Thailand, who shall remain anonymous. How cute, but why secrecy? :-D

Since I'm a big fan of Vietnamese food, I couldn't help rejoicing! Send more recipes and photos whenever you want, sweetie. :-}

Vietnamese foods are among the lightest and healthiest cuisines out there. If you have never tried any, PLEASE do some exploring.



Ingredients

1 C shredded boiled chicken meat
1 Tbsp paste of steamed fresh Thai red chili peppers (see Note)
2 Tbsp Vietnamese fish sauce (see Note)
1 Tbsp sugar syrup (see Note)
Juice of 1 lime
3 Tbsp thinly sliced onion
2 Tbsp thinly sliced green onions
3 Tbsp thinly sliced culantro (see Note)
3 big lettuce leaves
Whole culantro leaves and Vietnamese coriander sprigs as side veggies (see Note)

Directions

1. Mix chicken shreds, fresh chili paste (in small increments), fish sauce, and syrup in a glass bowl; mix well.
2. Taste to see that the sour taste leads the flavor, and adjust the hotness of the chili paste as desired.
3. Add the onion, green onions, and culantro; mix well.
4. Transfer the chicken mixture to a plate with arranged lettuce leaves.
5. Serve with whole culantro and Vietnamese coriander.



Note from P.:
1. That amount of fresh Thai chili paste could practically kill me, I think. LOL Maybe finely ground jalapeno will work for many of us. PLEASE add in small increments and mix thoroughly. Remember, folks, that the white 'placenta' inside the chili pepper fruits and the seeds are the hottest parts.
2. Fish sauce - If you have some anchovy pieces, grind some in tiny bit of boiling water and use the whole thing without filtering. Be careful to add to the mix in increments to avoid its being over-salty. OR you can use any Oriental soy sauce, but the taste won't be authentic.
3. Sugar syrup - melt sugar in a small ramekin in the microwave on low power to avoid scorching; corn syrup for baking would be an easy option.
4. Culantro is NOT cilantro. They look and taste nothing alike. Other names for culantro include sawtooth coriander or Mexican coriander.
5. Vietnamese coriander may be hard to find. It has a tangy, tardy taste. I think you can substitute it with fresh tomatoes like in the photo above.