Fried chicken strips and fresh lemon dressing add a healthy twist to the much-loved Vietnamese noodle salad.
INGREDIANTS for Lemon Chicken Noodle Salad
- Lemongrass and chicken marinade
- 1 large lemongrass or 2 smaller stems
- ginger 3 cm peeled, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1½ teaspoon of ground turmeric
- 1½ teaspoon of brown sugar
- 1½ tablespoon of fish sauce or soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- 500-600 g of boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breast cut into 1 cm strips
- ½ cup of coconut milk
- vegetables and pasta
- 100 g thinly sliced green beans
- 1 medium carrot, chopped or cut into thin matches
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, thinly sliced
- 1 basket of halved cherry tomatoes
- 200 g of thin rice noodles
- ¼-⅓ cup of coconut milk
- ⅓ cup of chopped roasted peanuts
- Get dressed
- 1 red chilli 1 finely chopped (remove seeds if you don’t want heat)
- 1 lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons of fish sauce or soy sauce
- 1½ teaspoon of brown sugar
- 1-1½ tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1-1½ cups of fresh mint and chopped cilantro
- chopped roasted peanuts
INSTRUCTIONS For Lemon Chicken Noodle Salad
- Remove the hard outer leaves of the lemongrass and discard. Pound the lemongrass stem with the back of the knife to dent it and release its flavor, then finely chop. Add to a mortar and pestle. Add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and brown sugar. Blend all the ingredients together until it becomes a paste. Mix in fish sauce and oil.
- Alternatively, put all the ingredients in a small food processor and blend until it becomes a paste.
- Dry the chicken with paper towels. Combine the chicken with the lemongrass marinade in a bowl and leave to marinate for at least 15 minutes on the counter. If you have time, let the chicken marinate for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator (make sure the chicken is at room temperature when ready to cook).
- Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare all the vegetables.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the marinated chicken and cook for about 5 minutes until well browned and just cooked. Add the coconut milk and use a wooden spoon to scrape any browning in the pan from the bottom of the pan (there’s a lot of flavor here!). Boil the coconut milk for about a minute and reduce. Turn off the heat. - Cook the noodles in boiling water for about 3 minutes or until cooked through – be careful not to overcook the noodles. Drain well and drizzle with coconut milk while the noodles are still hot (this helps keep them from sticking together). Use scissors to cut the noodles in places to shorten the threads (this makes it easier to eat).
Season the noodles with the chicken and all its juices and the marinade from the pan, beans, carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and peanuts. Mix all the ingredients of the dressing and season the noodles just before serving. - divide into plates and sprinkle with lots of fresh herbs. Garnish with extra peanuts to serve .
- I took this lemongrass chicken noodle salad in Vietnam, adding rice noodles and lots of crunchy fresh veggies. The topping contains some chili, but you can add more or omit it if it’s not your favorite.
