Chinese chicken salad for beginners
Dinner made simple with little planning, skill in kitchen

By Sophia Cook,
Photographer
May 17, 2007

For some kids who have both parents working or have a single parent family, they may need to know how to make a meal a couple of nights a week. And if pizza, burgers or tacos are getting old, here is a simple way to make a delicious meal.

The secret to Chinese chicken salad is fresh skinless chicken breasts and crispy iceberg lettuce. First take a pound of chicken and bake it in the oven or microwave with a little teriyaki sauce (if you do not have a lot of time then buy chicken breast strips that are pre-cooked from at any supermarket). Make sure meat is done all the way through.

For details on how long to bake and/or how to season the meat, go to Cooks.com.

Let the chicken cool and then shred into bite-size pieces. Chop up the fresh iceberg lettuce (try a mixed green lettuce or chopped cabbage as an alternative) into a bowl--add toasted almonds. For an additional touch, toss toasted sesame seeds or chop up two or three stalks of green onions into the bowl.

After adding a cup of maifun (you will have to deep fry this or use a can of Chun King or similar brand), make sure you eat soon thereafter. The noodles gives a crunch and texture to the salad but these will sofen quickly when the dressing is added.

Then mix the ingredients into a bowl, pour the dressing and eat. It is important to turn the mixture with a spoon/fork to fully coat the chicken and lettuce. Serve chilled and eat immediately. The salad will get soggy quickly and become undesireable if you use too much dressing or let the salad sit for too long.

Refer to the ingredient list below for the dressing mix and drizzle over salad while both the dressing and salad are cold.

Ingredients:

2 meaty skinless chicken breasts

1 bag of iceberg lettuce (red and green leaf lettuce or cabbage)
3 tbsp toasted almonds
1 cup of fried maifun (rice sticks noodles) OR 1 can fried Chinese noodles (ex. Chun King)
3 stalks of green onions
1 tsp sesame seeds toasted

Dressing (Add to salad just before serving)

2 tsp. sesame oil
2tbsp. sesame seeds (roasted)
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. shoyu

After placing the salad in individual bowls, place some of the dry rice stick noodles to make it look festive!

Preparation time is about 30 minutes, which includes cooking the chicken.