The Scarlet Tines

The Scarlet Tines

I made this salad yesterday influenced by Vietnamese cuisine - it turned out really well!

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

Salad
200g bean sprouts
2 carrots, grated
20-30g mint leaves, roughly chopped
½ a spring onion, finely diced
1-2 small red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
4-5 leaves of iceberg lettuce, chopped in small strips
1 yellow paprika, sliced in strips
1 red bell (californian) pepper (optional), sliced in strips

Dressing
Juice of 1 lime
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp (15g) muscovado (brown) sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce (nước mắm, or nam pla in Thai)
4 tbsp olive or sesame seed oil
Black pepper as seasoning

With turkey/chicken breast
500-800g chicken breast, skin optional
1.5 litres boiling chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil

Preparation
Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently. Mix together the dressing ingredients with a fork and season to taste. Bring the stock up to the boil and portion the breasts before adding to the stock. Simmer for 12 - 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the breast. Remove the breasts and set aside. Fire up a large heavy pan and add olive oil. Season the breasts with salt and freshly ground pepper. When the oil is just about to smoke add the meat to the pan and sear the meat until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to a chopping board and slice into 4 or 5 slices just before serving. Place on top of a portion of salad and serve with dressing.

Notes
The point of poaching the chicken breast before sautéing is to render down the fat and prevent the meat from becoming too dry. It also adds an extra layer of flavour, depending on what is in your stock. For best results, use a homemade stock and add 2 teaspoons of crushed coriander seeds. You can add a splash of soy sauce prior to removing breasts from the pan for extra taste. A fresh fruity white wine would go well with this, such as this one. You can get ingredients such as fish sauce in Culinaris or Exotic India foodstore (see my Links section).

Ho Chi Lunch

Friday 3 July 2009

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