STEAMED CHICKEN SALAD with SESAME SAUCE

I have been fighting dizzy spells and pounding headaches all weekend, however funnily enough I found myself irrationally hungry, even 10 minutes after just finishing a meal! And for some unexplained reason, when I am feeling under the weather I crave Japanese food. Udon, ramen, soba and rice noodles beckon to me. I desire ginger and chilli and all other food disgusts me. So I was consuming a lot of noodles, grated ginger, sesame seeds and rice on the weekend. One such dish; Steamed Chicken Salad with Sesame Sauce made the blog cut. A simple and quick recipe to prepare, which involves cooking chicken in the microwave (I was skeptical too at first) results in less cleaning up and more time to enjoy the freshness of the ginger, spring onions and sesame seeds. Believe it or not, this dish made me feel much better! A unique take on salad by the Japanese. Recipe from ‘Japanese’ cookbook by Australian Women’s Weekly. 

INGREDIENTS

Salad

• 2 medium lebanese cucumbers (250g), halved lengthways & cut into chunks
• 2 spring onions (50g), finely chopped and white & green pieces separated
• 250-300g chicken breast fillets, cut into even sized pieces (around 5cm) 
• 1 tablespoon mirin seasoning 
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2cm (1 inch) fresh ginger, finely grated 

Sesame sauce 

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli paste
• 2cm (1 inch) fresh ginger, finely grated 
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed 
• 1 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted & roughly ground in a mortar & pestle into a paste
• 1 heaped teaspoon sesame seeds

COOKING 

1. Place chicken pieces in a medium heatproof bowl and toss well with mirin and sesame oil. Scatter ginger and white part of the spring onion over the chicken and cook, covered, in the microwave for 4 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove, cool for 5 minutes and reserve the cooking liquid. 

2. Whilst chicken is cooling, make the sesame sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients and 2 tablespoons of the reserved chicken cooking liquid and whisking together. 

3. Shred cooled chicken with your hands. Halve the chicken and cucumber pieces and place in two medium bowls. Drizzle with green part of the spring onion and sauce and serve. 

Serves / 2 

Total Preparation time / 12 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 12 minutes 

x Emily