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Vietnamese Noodle Salad with Hanoi Chicken

A light, refreshing noodle salad with a serious kick

Servings 4

Ingredients

For the chicken:

  • 1 1/2 pounds bonless skinless chicken thighs
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil

For the crispy shallots:

  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup canola oil

For the dressing:

  • 4 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 clove garlic, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoons garlic chili sauce

For the picked carrots:

  • 1 cup thinly sliced carrot
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup + 1 tablepoon white vinegar
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm water

For the salad:

  • 8 ounces thin rice noodles
  • 3 cups finely torn romaine lettuce
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup bean sprouts
  • 1 cup cucumber, thinly sliced (I prefer English)
  • 1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup torn mint leaves
  • hoisin sauce (optional)

Instructions

For the pickled carrots:

  1. In a bowl, combine sliced carrot with salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Massage and stir to ensure the mixture coats the carrots, then keep massaging for a minute or so until water starts to come out of the carrots. Drain in a fine sieve, then rinse under cold water and allow to drain again. Place in a pint jar. 

  2. In a bowl, combine the remaining sugar with vinegar and water and stir until dissolved. Pour over the carrots in the pint jar and let pickle in the fridge for at least one hour. These can be refrigerated for up to one month. 

For the shallots:

  1. Place oil in small saucepan and heat to 275 F. Add shallots and fry until light golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to cool. In the meantime, heat oil to 350 F. When it reaches 350, place the fried shallots back in and fry until well browned, probably less than a minute. Watch this closely because they burn easily. Remove promptly and place on the paper towel-lined plate. You can make these several hours in advance but no longer than a day.

For the dressing:

  1. Combine fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar, and chili garlic sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

For the chicken:

  1. Mix sugar, salt, black pepper, fish sauce and lime juice in a large bowl. Toss in chicken and coat well. Add canola oil and make sure each piece of chicken is coated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside. Allow to marinate at room temp for 30 minutes. 

  2. After the chicken has marinated, grill on medium heat or cook over medium-high heat in a cast iron pan until chicken is well seared and reaches an internal temp of 165 F. Remove and set aside. 

For the noodles:

  1. While chicken is cooking, boil noodles in a large pot for about 10 minutes, or until just cooked. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Set aside in a bowl. 

To assemble:

  1. Equally divide noodles in four separate bowls. Top with lettuce, green onions, bean sprouts, cucumber, pickled carrots, mint leaves, chicken, fried shallots, peanuts. Pour desired amount of dressing over salad and hoisin sauce, if desired. Enjoy!