Chinese Chicken Salad is a flavorful mix of sweet and savory with a range of textures.
Cucumbers, lettuce and cabbage give it a cool, crunchy bite that is in direct contrast to the tender pieces of savory chicken and the soft, juicy pop of oranges. Toasted sesame seeds and sliced almonds further the crunch factor. In a word it has everything you could wish for in a salad.
The dressing has a spicy sweetness with a kick of heat that brings the salad to life. It’s made with ginger, soy sauce, hot chili sauce, brown sugar and sesame oil. For a mild version leave out the chili sauce and if you don’t have sesame oil substitute a neutral-tasting oil like olive or canola.
My recipe is different from most because I like to briefly sauté my cabbage until it starts to wilt and gets a little char from the pan on it. It stays crunchy this way while losing the harshness found in raw cabbage.
Using store-bought rotisserie chicken makes this a cinch to throw together. You can swap out the chicken for cooked tofu, shrimp or fish. I already have plans to make it again tomorrow with pan-fried tofu. And I ate it today for lunch and dinner. That’s how fast it became a favorite.
So thoroughly delicious and completely satisfying – I love it’s versatility!
Chinese Chicken Salad is a flavorful mix of sweet and savory with a wide range of textures. It's a cinch to throw together using rotisserie chicken.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl, taste and adjust if desired by adding more soy sauce or sriracha.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-low heat and briefly toast the sesame seeds. Remove and toast the almonds, tossing often until browned.
- Lightly coat pan with oil and turn heat up to medium; add cabbage. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring often until slightly wilted but still crunchy. Remove to a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl toss the chicken with a little bit of dressing to coat lightly and the sesame seeds.
- Add chicken to cabbage in the bowl along with the lettuce, pepper, orange and cucumber. Drizzle with dressing and toss well adding more dressing as needed to lightly coat everything. Sprinkle almonds over top and serve immediately.
Notes
Dressing adapted from and salad inspired by Design Sponge
So much better than regular chicken salad!
Blond Duck recently posted..Friday Five: Easter giddiness
A really colourful and appetizing main salad. Love that spiced up ginger dressing too.
Angie@Angie’s Recipes recently posted..Tri-coloured Castella Layer Cake
Have a great Easter and weekend you Asian dish looks fabulous!
That does look completely satisfying! We will most certainly have to try this!
Moon, you always look absolutely handsome!
BeadedTail recently posted..Naughty or Not
Nice,light and filled with flavor. Beautiful salad that is!