Monday, July 2, 2007

VIETNAMESE CHICKEN & GRAPEFRUIT SALAD

On June the 23rd, our little group of foodies organized a "Farewell Dinner Party" (report soon to come) in honor of our good friend, the sweet Rai (at "Ugly Fruit") who was going to leave Switzerland in order to go back to Iowa, in the US and start a new life as an artist (very sad, sniff!)...

For this very occasion, I thought that it would be great to mark this very day with one of my favorite Vietnamese specialities, because Rai had not yet had the opportunity to taste my Asian cuisine (last opportunity).

Thankfully, my salad was really successful and I was very happy with it, although nobody was very happy to see Rai go!

This "Vietnamese Chicken & Grapefruit Salad" is a culinary experience in itself, a real treasure of the Vietnamese cuisine (see infos) as it tastes incredible and really, really wonderful! It is a delicate and exquisite dish that has fantastic aromas and is a mindblowing assemblage of holiday-like flavors. With it's crunchiness, gorgeous and uncomparable freshness, it's delicate fragrances, sweet and savoriness, you'll be conquered! This exceptional dish will leave it's mark on you and you'll see that you'll come back asking for more!

This will be a hammer at any party, believe me! It's is a great summer meal that will add an exotic touch to any table...


~ Vietnamese Chicken & Grapefruit Salad (Goi Bu'Oi Thit Gà) ~
Recipe put together by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums and heavily inspired by The Australian Woman's Weekly "Vietnamese Style Cookery".

serves 4-6 people.


Ingredients for the salad:
650g Chicken breasts (about 4)
2 Pink grapefruits
3 Red shallots, chopped
1 Green shallot, chopped

3 Cups Chinese cabbage, shredded
3 Cups Bean sprouts
1 Cup Cucumber, cut into thin strips
2 Medium carrots, cut into thin strips
2 Tbs Fresh lemongrass, chopped (white part)
4 Tbs Fresh coriander leaves, chopped

2 Tbs Fresh mint (Vietnamese) leaves, chopped
Ingredients for the marinade:

1 Tbs Peanut oil
1 Tbs Light soy sauce
2 Tbs Fish sauce
2 Tbs Sweet chilli sauce
Ingredients for the dressing:
1/2 Cup Fish sauce
1 Lime juice

3 Tbs Rice vinegar
2 Tbs Sweet chilli sauce (optional)
5-6 Tsp Brown sugar

2 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Small fresh red chilli, finely chopped

Ingredients for the topping:
30g (+30g as accompaniment) Prawn crackers
1/4 Cup (30g) Dried shrimps, rehydrated and chopped
3/4-1 Cup Roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
4-5 Tbs Fried onion flakes
2 Tbs Light brown sugar (optional)

Method for the marinaded chicken:
1. Place the chicken breast in a bowl and add all the ingredients for the marinade.
2. Mix well and place in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Heat some peanut oil in a pan, add the chicken and cook until browned on both sides and
tender.
4. Cool the chicken.
5. Slice thinly and set aside.
Method for the dressing:
6. In a jar, combine all the ingredients.

7. Shake well and rectify the taste if needed.
Method for assembling the salad:
8. Take your grapefruits, discard the skins, white pith and seeds.
9. Cut between the membranes into segments.
10. In a big bowl, combine the sliced chicken, the shallots (red & green), chinese cabbage,
bean sprouts, carrots, cucumber, grapefruit segments, lemongrass, mint and coriander.
11. Add dressing and mix well.
12. Put the salad in a presentation dish.
Method for the topping:
13. Top salad with the chopped dried shrimps, chopped peanuts and fried onion flakes.
14. Sprinkle with the light brown sugar.

15. Decorate with some shrimp crackers (sides of the dish).
16. Serve.

Remarks:
This recipe is best made just before serving.
The chicken can also be marinaded only a few hours in advance (minimum 1 hour).
If you don't find any Vietnamese mint, then take any other kind of mint that you'll find.

Regarding the herbs, you can add more to taste, but it should either not be too overpowering.
You can replace the red shallots by the same quantity of green shallots, if desired.
You can also use already roasted unsalted peanuts or even salted roasted peanuts for this recipe.
To rehydrate the dried shrimps, place them in a bowl, cover with boiling water and let stand for 30 minutes, then drain.

Serving suggestions:
Eat this dish accompanied by prawn crackers, served either as an appetizer or as a main course.

Andrea Nguyen at "Viet World Kitchen" from USA has gracefully written an article about my post/recipe (see link)... If you want to learn more about Vietnam and it's culinary traditions, I really recommend you to visit her great blog!

23 comments:

  1. le gere de plat qui me fait saliver, je suis sûre d'aimer les yeux fermés.

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  2. To die for! I also love Australian Woman's Weekly cookbooks (I have 2 that I just look at for the pictures!), one on hors-d'oeuvres and the other on herbs. Have a great day.

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  3. Cette salade aux saveurs vietnamiennes a l'air délicieuse!
    Bonne journée!

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  4. Ce genre de plat que j'aime beaucoup. Quelques difficultés à lire la recette car la traduction est assez aléatoire hihi
    Bises Rosa

    J'espère que mon message ne va pas arriver plusieurs fois car il ne part pas.

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  5. Seems to be so delicious !!!
    anso1505.canalblog.com

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  6. Miam... elle me semble bien bonne cette petite salade...

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  7. Magnique que ca soit la recette et la photo. Ca donne vraiment envie.

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  8. une salade asiatique qui me semble bien savoureuse !

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  9. Hiya wishing all the best to your friend Rosa.

    You know what..as I was typing this I was drooling over this salad..honest :) Looks so yummy & appetizing...

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  10. c'est tout beau!! biiiiises micky

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  11. Wow...I have not had prawn crackers in a long time. My grandmother used to make it from scratch and they are SO yummy. That salad looks so good especially with all those wonderful colors.

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  12. tout ce que j'aime se trouve dans ce plat et ça me donne faim

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  13. Une rcette qui me fait bien envie...

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  14. Hi Rosa,
    Vietnamese Chicken and Salad look very nice.
    Your recipe is great.
    In your post, I like white chips:) Are they prawn crackers?
    If you dont mind that I add you to my links :)

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  15. hummm,c'est très tentant !

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  16. I'm a fan of vietnamese cuisine and I can just imagine what a hit this was at the party. Sorry to hear your friend is leaving.

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  17. Your salad looks and sounds delicious. Good luck to your friend who will return home.

    Paz

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  18. yum yum yum....I'm going to store to search for pomello fruit to make this salad!

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  19. MINOUSCHKA: Merci!

    GATO AZUL: Thanks! Yes, I have a few of them (Thai, Malaysian, Chinese, Cakes, Asian, etc...). They are great! Have a nice week...

    BEBOP: Merci beaucoup! Bonne journée à toi aussi!

    MARIE FLO: Merci! Si tu veux une traduction un peu moin aléatoire, alors dis-moi ;-P! Bises...

    ANSO 1505: Thanks very much ;-P!

    HÉLÈNE: Merci!

    PAPRIKAS: Merci pour ton commentaire gentil!

    MICHETTE: Merci! Oui, en effet, elle est extra...

    SHIONGE: Thanks for your very kind and heart-warming comment! Yes, I hope my friend will be happy!

    MICKYMATH: Merci, Micky ;-P! Bises...

    BAKE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO: Thanks a lot for the compliments! I love prawn crackers! I bought those in my usual Swiss supermarket...

    MOUNET: Merci :-D!

    MAMINA: Merci beaucoup!

    AYSEYAMAN: Thanks! Yes, those chips are prawn crackers.
    I'd be glad if you ad me to your links, thanks ;-P! I'll do the same with your blog...

    FREDERIQUE: Merci!

    CYNTHIA: Thanks! Yes, it's such a great cuisine that deserves attention!
    I hope she'll be happy! Unfortunately, that's life...

    PAZ: Thanks so much! I wish her the same...

    STEAMYKITCHEN: Thanks for your visit and for the kind comment! Wow, do tell me how you found it!...

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  20. Je viens de découvrir la fonction pour traduire en français et c'est génial!!
    Ton blog est super!
    Bises et à bientot.
    Mélanie de Sel et Poivre.

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  21. MÉLANIE: Merci beaucoup! Contente de savoir que tu aimes mon blog :-D! Bises et à plus!

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  22. Gosh, this looks gorgeous.
    Excellent recipe

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  23. Lovely Salad! It doesn't sound easy to make bu looks delicious, thanks for sharing Rosa!
    Cheers

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