Vietnamese Chicken Salad - Styles in the Kitchen

This is a great salad for this time of year, it is fresh and light but best of all it uses up that leftover chicken or even turkey you have lying around after Christmas. I like my salad with more cabbage than chicken but if you prefer up the chicken quantity for a heartier salad. This quantity will serve up to 3 as a main meal and any leftovers keep well for a day or two in the fridge. You could even make this vegetarian, just leave out the chicken, substitute soy for the fish sauce and serve with some marinated tofu or veggie sausages.

Ingredients

1 chilli, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 a red onion, finely sliced
salt and black pepper
400 gm white cabbage, finely sliced (1/4 large cabbage)
1 large carrot, grated (or 2 small)
200gm cooked chicken, shredded
20gm (large handful) of herb of choice ie. mint, coriander, basil or a mix, chopped

In a bowl, combine the chilli, garlic, sugar, vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce and soy sauce. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

Add in the finely sliced red onion. Stir to combine the red onion and set aside for 30 minutes. The red onion will soften and mellow in the dressing.

In a large bowl mix the finely shredded white cabbage, grated carrot, chicken and herbs.

Give the dressing a stir and have a taste. You are checking for a balance of sweet, salty and sour, add a squirt of sriracha or chilli sauce if you want the dressing to have more heat. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Taste to see if you need to season with salt or pepper.