Chinese Chicken Salad with Noodles and Cabbage

Many recipes for chicken salad recommend using rotisserie chicken, but it is very easy to cook chicken for salads in either your Steam or Convection oven with much better results.

Steaming bone-in chicken to add to salads or sandwiches is very easy and as a bonus, you will gain 1 - 2 cups of chicken broth. You can also roast the chicken in Convection and then make stock with the bones, either method of cooking yields delicious juicy chicken that can be flavored to suit the dish you are preparing.

INGREDIENTS

For the Steamed Chicken

2 whole chicken legs or 2 bone-in thighs and 1 bone-in breast

2 scallions

2 1” slices peeled fresh ginger

1 thin carrot

1 celery rib

2 stems of fresh cilantro

1 cup of water

For the Salad

4 cups finely shredded white cabbage OR prepared coleslaw mix

1 cup finely shredded purple cabbage

2 large carrots peeled and shredded

4 scallions, tops trimmed, chopped into ¼” slices

½ package Sai Fun bean thread noodles softened and coarsely chopped

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

For the Dressing

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1” slice fresh ginger, minced

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp honey or sugar

2 tbsp Sesame oil

¼ tsp red pepper flakes OR

1 tbsp Sesame chili oil

PREPARATION

To Steam the chicken, heat the Steam oven in the Steam mode 212 ℉ (100 ℃).

Place the chicken pieces in an oven-safe casserole dish and add the remaining ingredients. Steam for 40 - 50 minutes until the chicken is very tender. Remove the chicken from the broth and set it aside to cool. When cool remove the skin, shred the chicken and discard the bones.

Strain the broth, discard the aromatics and cool the broth before refrigerating or freezing.

If you prefer to roast the chicken, heat the Convection Roast or Combination Convection Steam Mode 375 ℉ (190 ℃).

Place the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet, and season with some Chinese Five Spice Powder and a drizzle of sesame oil. Cook the chicken for 30 - 40 minutes until tender. Set aside to cool then remove the skin and shred or slice the meat.