Salad, Chinese Sesame-Chicken

By fireandfrost

Ingredients

• Salad:
• 1 pound chicken breasts
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cucumber
• 1 fresh red Fresno chile
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon Sishuan peppercorns
• Dressing:
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Place chicken in a pot, cover with chicken stock (plus water if needed), and bring to a boil slowly, starting with medium heat. Then cover and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Pierce fillets with a knife. Chicken is cooked through when juice runs clear, not pink. Then let chicken cool in the stock.

Meanwhile, rinse cucumber, trim ends, and halve lenthwise. Scrap out seeds and cut cucumber lengthwise into narrow strips (about 4 inches long). Rinse fresh chile, discard stem, and chop rest coarsely.

Heat oil in a pan or wok and saute chiles and Sichuan peppercorns briefly. Add cucumber strips and saute on high heat for about 2 minutes. Season with salt, transfer to a plate, and let cool.

Remove chicken from liquid, drain, and shred into fine strips. Arrange cucumber mixture on a platter or four plates and top with cooked chicken.

For the sauce, toast sesame seeds in a dry pan until a pale golden color. Grind in a spice mill or small food processor. Whisk together sesame seeds, soy sauce, sesame oil, peanut oil, and sugar. If the sauce is too thick, add a tiny bit of water. Drizzle over the salads and serve (either at room temp or chilled).