Gỏi Gà (Vietnamese Chicken & Cabbage Salad)

A crunchy, herb-packed salad of poached chicken, shredded cabbage, carrot and onion tossed in tangy-sweet nước chấm, piled with mint, cilantro and roasted peanuts. Light but satisfying, with rice on the side.

Ingredients

• 1½ lb boneless chicken breasts
• 1 lb cabbage, very finely shredded
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 small red or yellow onion, paper-thin
• a big handful of mint leaves
• cilantro, chopped
• ½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped
• 5 tbsp fish sauce, divided
• 3 limes, juiced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeño or Thai chile, minced
• 2 slices ginger
• 1 cup jasmine rice

From your pantry: 4 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt.

Instructions

1. Put the chicken in a pot with the ginger, 1 tbsp fish sauce, the salt and water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes, until 165°F inside. Cool, then shred. Start the rice.
2. Soak the sliced onion in cold water for 10 minutes to tame it, then drain. Rinse the shredded cabbage in cold water and dry it well (a salad spinner helps).
3. For the dressing, stir the sugar into ⅓ cup warm water until dissolved, then add the remaining 4 tbsp fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and chile.
4. Toss the chicken with 3 tbsp of the dressing. Add the cabbage, carrots, onion, mint and cilantro and toss with most of the remaining dressing. Let sit 5 minutes.
5. Pile onto plates, top with peanuts and serve with rice and the rest of the dressing on the side.

Tip: Rotisserie chicken makes this a 15-minute lunch. Rau răm (Vietnamese coriander) and store-bought fried shallots are the traditional finishing touches.

Nutrition per serving

Good for

Adapted from Takes Two Eggs.

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