Thai Poached Chicken Salad ( Good Food) by Tom

A Coconut Milk and Lemongrass Infusion make this Salad Special

So what do you do with leftover kaffir lime leaves, ginger, and lemongrass?  What I did was go to the internet to find a recipe that incorporated all three.  And what I found was a poached chicken salad recipe which utilized these three ingredients and more.  I found this recipe on GoodFood.com by Katrina Meynink that caught my eye.

I had never poached chicken before, so I was little apprehensive as to how it would turn out.  But it turned out great.  Now I have to confess that I did not follow the recipe exactly.  In fact, I modified it rather extensively to eliminate some of the raw elements of the salad so it would be less harsh.  The only raw element I maintained was the cucumber.  

The chicken breasts were poached in a concoction of coconut milk, chicken stock, ginger, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.  Once the chicken is poached, the chicken is removed, and then the rice noodles are cooked in the poaching liquid.  The rice noodles really picked up the flavors of the poaching liquid.

Here is where I deviated substantially from the original recipe.  Instead of leaving the red onion, garlic clove and green beans raw, I stir fried them.  This both softened them and made them less strong tasting.  Easier on the stomach as well.

There is also a nuoc cham dressing comprised of fish sauce, rive vinegar, palm sugar, dried red chili pepper and lime juice.  This dressing adds even more flavor to the final dish.

  

After everything that needs to be cooked is finished, the final assembly includes the sliced cucumbers, a sprinkle of Thai basil leaves, and dry roasted peanuts over the top.  The nuoc cham dressing is then poured over the top and you are now ready to serve and eat.

The flavors are really good and we very much enjoyed this two days in a row.  In fact Barbara served it to a guest on day three, as a spring roll, and she really thought it was good as well.

A good internet find that I will make again.

--Tom

Thai Poached Chicken Salad 
(adapted from GoodFood.com)

Serves 4-6

Poached chicken:

2 lemongrass stalks, bruised

2" piece of ginger, peeled and sliced

14 oz. can of chicken stock

5 kaffir lime leaves, coarsely torn

1 lb. skinless chicken breasts

14 oz. can of coconut milk

Nuoc cham dressing:

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tbsp. palm sugar

1/4 cup water

1 dried red chili finely chopped

juice from 1/2 lime

Noodles:

1 package wide flat rice stick noodles

If needed, a little more chicken stock 

The salad/stir fry:

1 cup of French green beans, washed and trimmed

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove

1/2 cup Thai basil leaves

2 kaffir lime leaves, deveined and finely chopped

To serve:

1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts

1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced into rounds

extra Thai basil leaves

Add the poached chicken ingredients to a medium sized sauce pan and place over low heat so that it is just below simmering. Do not boil. Depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts, this step will take between one hour and an hour 15 minutes to poach the chicken.  You will know when the chicken is fully cooked when it is firm to the touch.

While the chicken is poaching, make the nuoc cham dressing.  Place the fish sauce, rice vinegar, palm sugar, dried red chili pepper, and 1/4 cup of water in a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat.  Stir to combine and bring the mixture to just below the boiling point.  Remove from the heat and let cool.  Once it is cool, add the lime juice.

When the poached chicken is done, remove the chicken breasts from the poaching liquid and place it in your serving bowl.  Shred the chicken with two forks.  Add 1/4 cup of the poaching liquid over the shredded chicken or as needed, so the meat is well-coated.

Stir fry in a medium skillet the green beans, red onion, garlic, 2 kaffir lime leaves, and Thai basil leaves.  This will take about 12 minutes.  Once finished pour over the top of the shredded chicken.

While you are stir frying the salad ingredients, bring the poaching liquid back to a rolling boil.  Add the rice stick noodles and cook for about 7 minutes.  Once finished strain the noodles from the poaching liquid and add to the serving bowl.

Top the serving dish with the cucumbers, Thai basil leaves, and peanuts.

Pour the nuoc cham dressing over it. 

Toss the mixture just like you would a salad to get all of the ingredients well mixed.  Then serve in deep bowls or plated and enjoy.

    ---Tom