Vietnamese food is probably my favourite regional cuisine. I find it so fresh, green, healthy and also (a lot of the time) gluten free. Therefore the region’s salads or soups are a staple go-to in my kitchen.
I made this Vietnamese-style chicken noodle salad for everyone at work, it’s fairly quick to make in a big batch and also super filling and healthy. Sarah, a friend from uni (and super talented illustrator!) requested I share the recipe after I instagrammed this bad boy, so I thought i’d put it up here incase anyone else is interested.
I whipped this up for about 8-10 people, but I’ll give the recipe for 2 because I doubt anyone reading this wants to do it for 10! If you want to make it for more, just double everything per two people.
WHAT YOU NEED
For the chicken & marinade
2 x chicken breasts
A pinch of grated fresh ginger
1 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of Sriracha hot sauce
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 x fresh lime squeezed
1 tablespoon of olive oil
A pinch of salt and pepper (to your taste)
For the salad
Green salad:
2 x Romaine lettuce
1 x cucumber
A bunch of spring onions
1 x fresh red chilli
1 x freshly squeezed lime
Colourful salad:
3 x carrots – grated with a julienne peeler
A handful of radishes, sliced
To serve
Rice noodles (you can buy these fresh from most supermarkets, or dried if you can’t find fresh ones – both are fine)
A bunch of fresh mint leaves – finely chopped
Fresh lime slices
Soy sauce – (Kikkoman is my favourite – they also do a gluten free one)
Sriracha hot sauce (for me there is no better chilli sauce than Sriracha!)
METHOD
1. Cut up your chicken into small chunks and place in a bowl. Pour your fish sauce, ginger, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and Sriracha all over, making sure it’s all covered – give it a good stir! Leave to marinade while you create your salads.
2. For your green salad, chop your romaine lettuce into thin strips. Finely chop the spring onions and red chilli. Chop up your cucumber into circles (not lengthways). Mix together and squeeze a lime all over! Stir well.
3. For the colourful salad, use a julienne peeler to slice your carrots into thin strips, cut your radishes into thin slices. Mix together.
4. Chop up your mint and limes ready for when you serve the meal.
5. Now that you have prepared all your salad, the chicken will have absorbed some of the flavours during it’s little marinating session! Fry the chicken in a pan with a little bit of oil or butter until fully cooked. While the chicken is cooking, add some boiling water into another pan and cook your rice noodles for around 5 mins until heated through.
5. Serve each salad, noodles, chicken etc in lots of different bowls (I like serving food like this) so you can make your own plate up. Season with soy sauce, mint, Sriracha etc to taste. Enjoy.
Let me know if you’re a fan!