About the Recipe
This salad is ideal for a hot day when you want something satisfying and nutricious but not too heavy. The Vietnamese flavours are fragrant amd very, very moreish.
Ingredients
for the dressing:
2 cloves of garlic
a little dried chilli (as much you wish)
1.5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 limes
2 tbsp cold water
60g / 2oz carrot, peeled
60g / 2oz cucumber
60g /2 oz lettuce
1 chicken breast
marinade for the chicken breast:
some black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 bundles dried virmicelli noodles (90-100g/3-3.5oz)
1 tsp vegetable oil
a handful of fresh mint & coriander
Preparation
first, to make the dressing:
slice and mince the garlic cloves and put them in a small bowl
slice up as much dried chill as you like and add it to the bowl
add 1.5 tbsp of sugar & 2 tbsp of fish sauce
halve the limes, squeeze out the juice and add to the bowl
add 2 tbsp of water and stir well
next, slice the carrot & cucumber and cut julienne style into matchsticks
slice up the lettuce leaves
lay the chicken breast on a chopping board and cut into two schnitzel style fillets. slice into strips and put into a second bowl
sprinkle the chicken with some black pepper. add 1 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tbsp of fish sauce and 1/2 tbsp of oyster sauce. stir together well
bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. drop in the vermicelli noodles and turn off the heat. leave the noodles to soften which should take about 5 minutes (the time may vary according to the brand, so please check the packaging for instructions)
drain the noodles and using a pair of scissors, cut them 3 or 4 times to make them shorter (which makes them easier to eat)
next, cook your chicken: heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil in a small frying pan. add the chicken and stir fry for 4-5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through
now to plate up: add half of the noodles to each serving bowl. then, place half of the lettuce, cucumber, carrot and chicken on top of the noodles
garnish with some chopped mint and/or coriander leaves
just before eating, spoon over the sweet and sour dressing