Gỏi Gà Bắp Cải | Vietnamese Chicken & Cabbage Salad

Ingredients

Chicken:
3 chicken thighs
Water to cover
1 tbsp salt
1 inch of ginger, crushed

Salad:
4 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1 medium onion, very thinly sliced
1 large carrot, julienned
½ cup roughly chopped cilantro
½ cup mint leaves
Fried shallots, optional
Crushed roasted peanuts, optional

Dressing:
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 bird’s eye chili, minced
2 garlic clove, minced
4-5 cilantro stems, minced

Directions

Add chicken, salt and ginger to a pot and cover with water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove, cool slightly and shred into chunky pieces. And SAVE that broth for something else (like Vietnamese canh)!

Add the cabbage and onion to a large bowl of ice water and soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain VERY well and spin or pat completely dry. Keep the carrots out of the water so they stay nice and firm.

Dissolve the sugar in warm water, then stir in fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, sambal and garlic. It should taste intensely sweet, sour, salty and spicy on its own because all those vegetables are going to mellow it out!

Combine the cabbage, onion, carrot and shredded chicken. Add about ¾ of the dressing and toss thoroughly. Add the cilantro and mint, then toss again. Taste and add the remaining dressing as needed.

Let everything sit for about 5 minutes to absorb the dressing while keeping that CRUNCH. Top with fried shallots and crushed peanuts if you like, and serve immediately!