Vietnamese inspired coconut poached chicken noodle salad

Fresh, tasty, and quick to throw together. This healthy noodle salad is a lunchtime regular in our household. I often poach a couple of large chicken breasts ahead of time on the weekend, so that they’re ready to go for lunches during the week.

Recipe serves two portions.

Ingredients

• 100g x dried noodles, cooked to packet instructions
• 1 x large chicken breast (if you’re using a smaller sized chicken breast, I’d suggest reducing the simmer time by a about 2-3 minutes)
• 200ml x coconut milk (about half a regular sized can)
• 150 ml x water
• 1/2 x large cucumber, sliced
• 2 cups x shredded cabbage (I used raw cabbage here, but feel free to steam / boil / saute instead)
• 1 x tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 x tablespoon coconut milk
• 1 x teaspoon lemon or lime juice
• 1 x red chilli, sliced fine (feel free to remove seeds or leave out completely)
• 1/4 cup x peanuts (I’ve used unsalted raw peanuts here, but feel free to use whatever nuts you have handy)
• 1/4 cup x Vietnamese mint

Method 

• In a small-medium sized pot, add the water and 200ml coconut milk. Add the chicken breast to the pot and bring to the boil. The chicken breast should be almost / fully submerged in the liquid.
• As soon as the liquid comes to the boil, bring down the heat to a gentle simmer, and place the lid on.  Leave to simmer for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave to stand with the lid on for about 5 minutes, the remove from the pot, and leave to rest / cool while you assemble the rest of the ingredients. Reserve the poaching liquid.
• Place cooked noodles in each of the bowls.
• Arrange the cucumber and cabbage in each of the bowls.
• Shred the chicken breast with two forks. The meat should be cooked through but juicy. Arrange the chicken breast in each of the bowls.
• Combine the fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of coconut milk, lemon / lime juice and about 1 tablespoon of the poaching liquid in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly, and then pour over the chicken breast.
• Arrange the Vietnamese mint, chilli and peanuts on top of the bowls. Enjoy!

I like to reserve the poaching liquid, and use as the base for homemade laksa.

Noodle soup for the soul

I make this dish at least once a month. It’s incredibly easy, and oh so comforting. I’m penning this down in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the hope that this brings some small comfort to others.

Homemade chicken broth makes the world of difference, so if you have any stashed about in your freezer – now is the time for it to shine. It’s incredibly versatile,  so here are a few substitution suggestions you can easily make:

• If you don’t have fish tofu, you can easily swap with fish balls, tofu, any kind of seafood or thinly sliced protein
• Similarly if you don’t have Chinese broccoli feel free to use whatever veggies you have in the fridge – bok choy, wombok / Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, broccoli, peas etc. – all will work a treat!
• I’ve used wheat noodles, but you can easily use any kind of noodle you like – rice, sweet potato, mung bean etc.
• If you don’t have homemade stock, feel free to use store bought. I do find however, that homemade stock just tastes better – can’t explain it.
• I make flavoured onion oil every couple of weeks. This is basically the residual oil in the pan, after I shallow fry sliced onions until crispy in. I use those crispy onion pieces to dress salads for a bit of crunch. I’ll admit, it’s a bit of an effort to go through to drizzle over your noodles, so if you cannot be bothered with that fuss feel free to use sesame oil or chilli oil. Both are delicious.

Recipe makes enough for 2 serves. If you’re extra hungry however you may wish to add more noodles / veggies / protein.

Ingredients 

• 4 cups x chicken stock
• 2 cups x  Chinese broccoli, sliced (I like my veggies cut into bite sized pieces for soupy noodle dishes)
• 6 x large fish tofu pieces (add more if you prefer!)
• 1 x large red chilli, sliced (I keep the seeds in, but remove seeds if you prefer less spice)
• 100g x dried noodles, cooked to packet instructions
• 1 inch x sliced fresh ginger (feel free to leave out / swap with a pinch of powdered ginger)
• 2 x teaspoons light soy sauce, to serve
• 2 x tablespoons onion / sesame / chilli oil, to serve

Method 

• Cook noodles according to packet instructions, and dish them into two ramen bowls.
• Heat chicken stock in a saucepan on medium to low heat. Add in sliced ginger and fish tofu at this stage. I like to leave the fish tofu pieces whole, but feel free to slice / cut them into smaller pieces, whatever suits your fancy.
• Arrange the sliced chilli in each bowl, on top of the noodles.
• When the stock comes to a gentle simmer, add in the veggies to the saucepan. Once the veggies are cooked  through, turn off the heat. Remove the veggies from the saucepan, and divide them between the ramen bowls. The veggies cook extremely quickly – I like mine with a good amount of crunch, and so I usually remove them from the saucepan as soon as they turn a deep vibrant green colour (see picture).
• Pour one teaspoon of light soy sauce over the noodles in each bowl.
• Pour one tablespoon of your flavoured oil of choice over the noodles in each bowl.
• Carefully ladle the chicken stock into each bowl. Take care not to serve the ginger slices! Serve piping hot and enjoy.