Vietnamese chicken cabbage salad ( serve 4).

Cabbage is cheap and it has so many health benefits. Head cabbage and Chinese cabbage are two common cabbages used in Vietnam.  The French brought cabbage into Vietnam in the 19th century along with other Western ingredients such as: potato, broccoli, cauliflowers, artichoke, strawberry, coffee beans, rubber tree and many other plantations from Brazil and Africa. French influence shows the most in our Banh Mi ( French baguette) that is one of famous Vietnamese sandwich. 

There are so many health benefits from fresh cabbage like detoxing, cleaning and healing your body. In Ireland, I've heard in the past time, the Irish would use cabbage juice to heal many illnesses and coleslaw is the most beloved salad dish along side with bacon and cabbage. I make this Vietnamese cabbage salad very often to clean my body after consuming too much meat or I feel a bit heavy in my stomach. My daughter also loves it and we wrap it with rice papers to make it more enjoyable. Dunnes is selling Vietnamese rice papers and it's so handy to make this dish and turn it into spring rolls.

 

Ingredients:

5 chicken thighs or you can use 3 chicken breasts and boil in hot water for 15 minutes.
2 cups shredded cabbage ( it could be any kind of cabbage but in Ireland I prefer York cabbage because it's very similar to the one we have in Vietnam). 
1 carrot.
few mint sprigs.
1 white onion and 1/2 red onion. 
1 lime.
2 cloves garlic. 
1 chili.
1/2 cup raw peanuts.
Fish sauce and sugar. 

Methods:

• Use a good peeler to shred the cabbage with the hard one like  Dutch white cabbage ( with York cabbage you only need to cut it thinly because it's very soft ). 
• Peel the carrot along side the length.
• Cut the carrot diagonal into thin strips.

• Cut the onion thinly. Use half of the white onion to fry with oil.
• Mix the cabbage, onion and carrot well together.
• Remove the bones and break the chicken into small piece by hand.
• Turn the oven to 200 degree and roast the peanut for 4 minutes. Discard the shell.
• Grind the peanut roughly.

• Add 4 spoons cooking oil to a frying pan and fry the onion until golden brown.Dry them on a kitchen paper towel to absorb oil.
• Cut the mints thinly. 

Making dressing: ( Adjust the dressing to suit your taste if you find it's too strong or too weak, I always like it sour). 

• Chop the garlic and chili. 

• In a small bowl mix 2 spoons fish sauce with 1 and 1/2 spoon sugar. Add in 3 spoons lime juice and mix well altogether. 

• Place the mixed cabbage on a plate then top up with chicken, fried onion, mint, peanut and pour over with the dressing.

• Place the mixed cabbage on a plate then add a layer of chicken, fried onion, mint, peanut and add the dressing on top.

I always add in more basil, coriander and mint when making spring rolls from the salad.