The first time I made this salad, I didn’t pay attention to how I made it, and ate it so fast I can’t remember what it tasted like.
So I made it again, assuming that I liked it the first time. And I've kept making it. I now know that I like it. Just look at how much it is has going for it:
- Radishes, poached in brown butter
- A dressing (that’s really a classic Vietnamese dipping sauce) that’s tangy and spicy and a little puckery
- Chicken—required protein, where leftover rotisserie chicken goes to heaven
- Rice, so it’s a meal
- Wisps and doodles of spicy greens—kale, watercress, what have you
The brown-butter-poached radishes are the brain children of Sarah Britton. Warming fish sauce by way of hot vegetables is a trick I learned from Momofuku’s Genius Brussels sprouts recipe: It renders the sauce round, substantial, almost meaty (but any more than that transient heat and the fish sauce gets funky, and not in a good way). The Brussels sprouts recipe also taught me to eat cilantro stems.
The idea of a warm chicken salad came from Merrill’s mom. Or, more specifically, the idea of warming shredded chicken with dressing in a pan so your leftover chicken takes on the dressing. And then drizzling them—chicken and sauce-dressing—over greens.
I wouldn’t dare, when making a salad, to butter my radishes, or warm my fish sauce, or wilt my greens—or rather, would never think of it. But let yourself start moving in the kitchen and a recipe or three might pop into your mind, like trivia you never thought you'd need. Let your fingers follow along, and sometimes you end up with something like this: a big, messy salad with inspiration from all over. So good you can't remember. Wise cooks will say “I told you so” right to your face, and it will be worth it.
| 2 | tablespoons sugar |
| 3 | tablespoons fish sauce |
| 1 | tablespoon lime zest |
| 3 | tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice |
| 1 | garlic clove, sliced |
| 2 | red or green Thai chiles, halved lengthwise, and sliced into half moons |
| 2 | tablespoons sugar |
| 3 | tablespoons fish sauce |
| 1 | tablespoon lime zest |
| 3 | tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice |
| 1 | garlic clove, sliced |
| 2 | red or green Thai chiles, halved lengthwise, and sliced into half moons |
| 1 | bunch radishes (about 12), cleaned, trimmed, and cut in quarters (or half if they're tiny) |
| 2 | tablespoons butter |
| Salt and freshly ground pepper | |
| 1 1/2 | cups shredded chicken (sometimes I buy a rotisserie chicken for this very purpose) |
| 1 | cup cooked long-grain brown rice |
| 2 | cups watercress, baby kale, or other spicy green |
| 1 | cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems |
| 1 | bunch radishes (about 12), cleaned, trimmed, and cut in quarters (or half if they're tiny) |
| 2 | tablespoons butter |
| Salt and freshly ground pepper | |
| 1 1/2 | cups shredded chicken (sometimes I buy a rotisserie chicken for this very purpose) |
| 1 | cup cooked long-grain brown rice |
| 2 | cups watercress, baby kale, or other spicy green |
| 1 | cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems |
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Written by: Ali Slagle
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