Shredded Thai Chicken Salad recipe. Curious about the best way to achieve perfectly poached chicken? The answer is surprisingly simple: a slow cooker. This method is ideal because the low, steady temperature prevents the liquid from boiling, ensuring your chicken remains tender and avoids that rubbery texture. By cooking at around 75°C, you achieve the perfect poaching environment.
For our shredded chicken salad, we infuse a delightful Thai flavor profile. As the chicken poaches, it absorbs the essence of lemongrass, while the dressing brings together the classic Thai balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. Sweet chili sauce provides both sweetness and heat, fish sauce adds saltiness, and lime juice brings a refreshing tang.
Why We Adore This Shredded Thai Chicken Salad Recipe
At taste.com.au, we’re big fans of slow cookers. They’re energy-efficient, perfect for low-effort meals, and a great excuse to keep them on your countertop year-round. While they do emit some heat, it’s minimal compared to stovetops or ovens, helping to keep your kitchen cool. In this recipe, rice noodles gently absorb the poaching liquid, infusing them with the flavors of lemongrass and star anise. Plus, this shredded chicken salad boasts a high health rating and is gluten-free—just remember to check the label on your sweet chili sauce!
Shredded Thai Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients Needed for This Poached Chicken and Noodle Salad:
- Chicken Stock: You’ll need just 2 cups to poach the chicken, as the slow cooker generates additional liquid through steam.
- Aromatics: Lemongrass, ginger, and star anise subtly flavor the poaching liquid. You can strain this liquid and repurpose it as a stock for curries and stews.
- Chicken: Opt for chicken breast, which shreds beautifully. Thigh fillets have denser fibers and are less suitable for shredding.
- Noodles: Instead of soaking rice vermicelli noodles in warm water, let them soak in the slow cooker to absorb all the aromatics—plus, it saves you an extra bowl to wash!
- Salad Vegetables: Add carrot, cucumber, and red cabbage for color, crunch, and essential vitamins and minerals.
- Herbs: Fresh coriander and mint deliver a burst of flavor and a traditional Thai touch.
- Fried Shallots: For extra flavor and crunch, you can make your own fried shallots—check out our recipe for how to do it!
- Dressing: Our easy dressing is versatile; whip up a double batch and keep it in the fridge for quick access.
Slow cookers aren’t just for winter; they’re great for warm-weather dishes, too! Consider serving up slow-cooked ribs with potato salad at your next barbecue or pile pulled pork into buns with coleslaw and BBQ sauce. Classic Asian recipes can also be adapted for the slow cooker, so don’t miss our takes on satay, teriyaki, and chicken with cashew nuts!
Ingredients (17)
* 500ml (2 cups) Massel Chicken style Liquid Stock
* 1 stem lemongrass, pale section only, bruised
* 3cm-piece ginger, peeled, sliced
* 1 star anise
* 400g chicken breast fillets
* 125g rice vermicelli noodles
* 2 carrots, peeled, cut into noodles using a spiraliser
* 1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds removed, thinly sliced
* 200g red cabbage, finely shredded
* 3 green shallots, thinly sliced
* 1 bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked
* 1/2 bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
* 2 tbsp fried shallots
Dressing
* 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
* 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
* 2 tsp fish sauce
* 2 tsp peanut oil
Method
Step 1
Combine the stock, lemongrass, ginger and star anise in a slow cooker. Add the chicken. Cover and cook on High, turning chicken halfway, for 2 hours.
Step 2
Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool. Add noodles to the slow cooker. Use tongs or a fork to turn the noodles a couple of times in the stock to soften them slightly and loosen until they’re mostly submerged. Cover and cook on Low for 5 minutes. Use tongs to transfer noodles to a colander to drain. Set aside to cool.
Step 3
Meanwhile, for the dressing, use a whisk to combine the sweet chilli sauce, lime juice, fish sauce and peanut oil in a small bowl.
Step 4
Use 2 forks to shred the chicken. Use kitchen scissors to cut the noodles into shorter lengths. Combine the chicken, noodles, carrot, cucumber, cabbage, shallot, coriander and mint in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing. Toss to combine. Sprinkle with fried shallots.
source – taste.com