Vietnamese Chicken Salad

I love looking up recipes from around the world – there is a desire in me to travel and taste all the glorious recipes from the different continents. This salad came about using some basic ingredients and a little Vietnamese inspiration.

Ingredients

3 shallots

Half a red chilli, de-seeded

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

3–4 black peppercorns

100ml rice vinegar

3 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 large chicken fillet

Olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper to season

¼ head of white cabbage

1 large carrot

A few sprigs of mint

A small bunch of coriander

A small handful of salted peanuts

Method

• Peel and coarsely chop the shallots. Put them into a large mortar and pestle along with the chopped chilli, the sugar and the black peppercorns. Grind everything together until soft and the liquid is dispersed from the shallots. Transfer this mix to a large bowl and stir in the rice vinegar and oyster sauce. Set to one side.

• Brush the chicken fillet with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill it under a medium/high heat for about 6–8 minutes on both sides, making sure it is cooked through. Allow to cool, then shred with your fingers finding the natural grain.

• Finely shred the cabbage and carefully chop the carrot into fine matchsticks. Add these to the vinegar mix, toss thoroughly, then add the chicken, mint leaves and coriander leaves, toss until combined and top with a scatter of roughly chopped peanuts.