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Poached Coconut Chicken Sesame Salad perfect BBQ food

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Chicken Sesame Salad

This Poached Coconut Chicken Sesame Salad is perfect BBQ food for parties or just for dinner.

It’s my new favourite, a combination of Coconut, Coriander, mint, crunchy cabbage and a truck load of sesame seeds. What could be better?  I’ve turned into my son, and love making a big bowl of something delicious that I can eat for days on end through all the hot and horrible days I don’t want to cook anything.

Luckily all that green and crunchy suits me just fine. The one thing about this salad that is spectacular is the way I poach the chicken. Chicken poached in coconut and herbs like this can be used in loads of other salads. Its pretty good thrown into a chilli, lime and mango noodle salad and not so shabby tossed with roasted sweet potato, peanuts and beanshoots too. I’m going to show you how you can make Coconut Poached Chicken, to be used in this Cabbage Sesame and any other one you like, it’s easy.

Chicken Sesame salad with Cabbage

Salt the cabbage it makes all the difference

Did you know that if you slice your cabbage and lightly salt it before dressing it becomes soft and limp. That doesn’t really sound all that great does it? But in fact it is. It makes it softer and easier to add the dressing and easier for it to start that dressing flavouring the salad. It’s nice and crunchy but soft and ready to munch!. Just a bit of salt will do the trick toss the cabbage and let it sit for a couple of minutes while you get the other bits ready.

Give it a try.

Chicken Sesame Salad with cabbage and lemon

Once I have  poached the chicken, I shred it into bite sized pieces, just by hand and then set it aside in the fridge. This salad is a beauty, and will surprise people because it’s a bit different and quite filling too. It’s best eaten the day you make it, although as I have already said….I can eat it for days. It’s my kind of fast food.

Chicken Sesame Salad with Lime

This is how it’s done. Watch the video  and give the  Poached Coconut Chicken Sesame Salad a try. It’s extra delicious.

Poached Coconut Chicken Sesame Salad

Print Recipe
Basically this is Asian slaw on steroids. It's a filling dinner salad or lunch. When asked to bring a plate or pot luck dish.....this is the one. Don't skip the salting of the cabbage. It makes it limp and ready to soak up the dressing. Poaching chicken this way results in a juicy delicious chicken you can use for soups, noodles or salads
Chicken Sesame Salad
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Rating: 5
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Course Salad
Servings 6
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes

Ingredients
Unit:
Poaching the chicken
  • 400 ml coconut milk 1 can, or cream
  • 250 ml chicken stock 1 cup
  • 3 stalks green onion chopped
  • 5 slices ginger
  • 3 cloves garlic cut/ crushed
  • 2 stalks coriander roots and all
  • 40 ml fish sauce
  • 1 kg chicken breasts (about 6 even sized)
Dressing
  • 80 ml Sesame oil 4 Tablespoons / 1/4 cup
  • 80 ml rice vinegar 4 Tablespoons / 1/4 cup
  • 40 ml lime juice
  • 125 ml coconut poaching liquid 1/2 cup
Salad
  • 500 gm White cabbage 1/4 of a large cabbage
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup corn kernels uncooked, from 2 ears of corn
  • 1 bunch coriander stalks chopped leaves picked
  • 1/2 bunch shallots about 5 stalks sliced (green onion)
  • 1 bunch mint picked
  • 1/2 cup fried shallots Asian stores
  • 1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

Start with the poached chicken.
  1. Add the coconut, chicken stock, fish sauce, green onions, ginger and garlic to a pot that has a fitting lid. Add the chicken breasts ( approximately 6 in a kg). Bring the pot up to a boil. When it starts to boil stir and put the lid on. Turn the heat off and don't lift the lid again for 15 minutes. The chicken should be perfectly poached
  2. **Check the thickest piece. Make sure there are no pink left in the chicken. Reheat those pieces to make sure it is cooked.
  3. Take the chicken out of the pot and put the poaching liquid and chicken in the fridge.
For the salad
  1. Finely slice the cabbage. Mix the salt through it and set aside for at least 10 minutes to 1/2 an hour while you prepare the other ingredients.
  2. Add the corn, sliced green onion, coriander and mint to the cabbage. Slice or tear the chicken into pieces and add that too. Add the fried shallots and 3/4 of the sesame seeds. Toss together.
To make the dressing
  1. Add the sugar, vinegar, lime juice , sesame oil and 1/2 cup of poaching liquid and shake well.
  2. Dress the salad and toss well.
  3. Finish the salad with the extra seeds and some coriander.

Recipe Notes

Don't forget to toast the sesame seeds. You can do that by placing them on a tray and baking in a moderate oven (fan off) for 10 - 15 minutes or toss them in a dry frypan till they start to turn golden. Pour them straight out onto a dish and cool.

 

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Need more Salad Dressing ideas?. Good. Try these 6 Salad Dressing that will change everything

Idea inspired by TheKitchn.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. Pinned! I am making this for dinner tonight!! but i want it now, this is my kind of salad. Thanks for the salting the cabbage tip – we eat a lot f cabbage based salads so excited to see the difference it will make. Thank you for sharing this gorgeous recipe xx

    Reply

  8. I have always tried that poaching method but gone with 20 minutes instead of 15. I did it 15 once and the chicken was still quite pink in the middle. I’ll try it again and I’ll talk to that chicken before I put it in.

    Is this the vegan chicken?? Maybe that’s the difference??

    I love you to bits!

    Reply

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