Chef Chu's Chinese Chicken Salad

Ingredients

1 pound cooked chicken (about 2 cups)

2 cups DaVinci® Extra Light Olive Oil

2 ounces rice sticks, pulled apart into smaller pieces

Half-head iceberg lettuce, shredded ¼ inch

½ cup julienned carrots

10 to 12 Chinese parsley (cilantro) sprigs with stems, coarsely chopped

½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice salt (See accompanying recipe.)

¼ cup crushed roasted peanuts

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

4 Chinese parsley (cilantro) sprigs, for garnish


For hot mustard paste:

2 teaspoons Colman’s hot mustard powder

2 teaspoons water

1 tablespoon sesame oil


For five-spice salt:

2 tablespoons salt

¼ teaspoon five-spice powder

You may use leftover cooked chicken (fried, barbecued, rotisserie, steamed, smoked or pan-fried), or duck for a different flavor. Slightly warm the chicken or duck, or serve at room temperature, for richer flavor.


Add the crisp poultry skin, julienned, to add texture and flavor to the salad.


Five-spice salt is added to the lettuce first to help it distribute evenly. If added when the mustard paste is tossed in, it can stick to the mustard and have an unpleasant taste. Also, if added too early, it can wilt the lettuce.

Hand-shred the chicken meat by pulling it apart in strands along the grain, or julienne it with a knife. Set aside.


To deep-fry the rice sticks:

Heat the oil in a wok to 375 degrees. Add the rice sticks in small batches; deep-fry each batch a few seconds until puffy but still white. (Do not brown.) Remove, and drain on paper towels.


To make the hot mustard paste:

Stir the mustard powder and water together in a small bowl to make a paste. Stir in the sesame oil until the paste becomes smooth and shiny.


To prepare five-spice salt:

Combine the salt and five-spice powder in a small skillet. Place over moderate heat, shaking the pan to agitate the ingredients, for about 1 minute.

To assemble:

The secret to the success of this salad is how it is assembled. Place the lettuce, carrot and chopped Chinese parsley in a large salad bowl. Sprinkle five-spice salt evenly over the lettuce mixture. (See Chef’s Tips.) Toss well to distribute the salt evenly. Rub the hot mustard paste around the lower sides of the bowl. Add the chicken, peanuts and sesame seeds evenly over the lettuce, reserving some of the peanuts and sesame seeds for garnish. Toss well to distribute the hot mustard paste evenly throughout the salad. Adjust the taste. Add three-quarters of the rice sticks last; toss lightly to distribute evenly. Garnish with the 4 sprigs of Chinese parsley. Reserve the remaining rice sticks to garnish the individual servings.


To serve

Mound the salad on individual salad plates. Sprinkle the remaining rice sticks over the top. Sprinkle a few crushed peanuts and sesame seeds on top.






Serving Size: 12 servings

Number of Servings: 12

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user CATMARTENS.