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    Home » Recipes » Salads

    Chinese Chicken Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette

    Published: May 16, 2017 · Last Updated: Jun 10, 2022 · 9 Comments

    341 shares
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    Crunchy, colorful vegetables team with shredded chicken and a creamy sesame ginger vinaigrette in this Chinese Chicken Salad. It makes a terrific main course meal for lunch or dinner, inspired by our recent trip to fabulous Charleston, South Carolina.

    chinese chicken salad | AFoodCentricLife.com

    Chinese Chicken Salad

    We'd been roaming around Charleston with our cameras all morning, happily lost in shooting old cobblestone streets, beautiful gardens, historic homes, and the city's famous ironwork. It's easy to lose track of time when you're completely absorbed, until your stomach reminds you that you've been ignoring it.

    chinese chicken salad | AFoodCentricLife.com
    charleston | A FoodCentricLife.com

    With so many terrific restaurants and cafes in Charleston, it's hard to choose where to eat. Several friends suggested we have lunch at Cru Cafe. It was worth the wait.

    chinese chicken salad | AFoodCentricLife.com

    Cru Cafe, Charleston, SC

    Serving up gourmet Lowcountry comfort food, Cru Cafe is off the beaten path in a classic, 18th century Charleston home with a lovely porch with a few tables where you can eat outside. And that we did, giving our tired feet a rest and our growling stomachs what they needed.

    chinese chicken salad | AFoodCentricLife.com

    We both ordered the Chinese Chicken Salad and it really hit the spot. Light and crunchy with crisp greens, bell peppers, carrots, tender chicken, and a ginger vinaigrette. Knowing I would be wanting this at home, I snapped a picture and created my own recipe.

    We both ordered the Chinese Chicken Salad. It really hit the spot. Light and crunchy with a good dose of veggies, tender chicken, and a ginger vinaigrette. Knowing I would be wanting this at home, I snapped a picture and created my own recipe.

    About Napa Cabbage

    If you are not familiar with napa cabbage, it's a type of Chinese cabbage.  The head is oval in shape with crinkly leaves and a large center white rib. Napa cabbage is part of the nutritious cruciferous family of veggies, including kale, broccoli, broccolini, chards, cauliflower, bok choy, regular cabbage, Brussels sprouts, arugula, radishes, and daikon. Cru Cafe's salad had daikon radish in the salad but since I couldn't find any, I used regular radishes instead.

    chinese chicken salad | AFoodCentricLife.com

    What Else to do With Napa Cabbage

    • Use it in tacos instead of lettuce or standard green cabbage
    • Upgrade your steakhouse-style iceberg wedge with napa cabbage
    • Add it to a stir-fry
    • Use it in a Caesar salad in stead of Romaine (which I like to do)
    • Grill it
    • Add thinly sliced ribbons to chicken soup

    Chicken Options

    You can use store rotisserie chicken, leftover whole roast chicken, or roast bone-in chicken breasts. Here's my easy method for Basic Chicken Breasts. 

    The Dressing: Ginger Vinaigrette

    Great salads need great dressing, right? Absolutely. This one is a creamy ginger dressing that's tasty and versatile. If you like this one, here's another creamy dressing, my Creamy Tahini Salad Dressing or this Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette

    chinese chicken salad | AFoodCentricLife.com

    For better roasting, let chicken sit out of the fridge for about 45 minutes, then roast. When cool enough to handle, shred the meat, discarding the bones and skin. You will get approximately 10 ounces of chicken off a single 1 pound bone-in chicken breast, so do 2 breasts to serve four. You need 16 ounces of cooked chicken, so you'll have a little extra.

    If you prefer boneless chicken breasts, poach approximately 1 ¼ pounds and slice for the salad. For how to poach chicken breasts use this recipe.

    charleston | AFoodCentricife.com

    Charleston is one fantastic, historic American city you must visit. We have so many great photos from the trip. One thing is for sure, we must go back. Did I mention the Charleston classic, She Crab Soup? oh yum...maybe a future recipe.

    charlestown | AFoodCentriclife.com

    For Histamine Intolerance

    The sesame oil in the dressing should be safe and generally low risk. For the vinegar, try organic white vinegar if vinegar sensitive. For the creamy consistency, try tahini if you are sensitive to cashews (which are high in histamine). Tahini is sesame seed butter. Although there is a small amount of lime juice in the dressing, I suggest you skip it as lime is highly reactive and a histamine liberator. Everything in the salad should be safe. Do what works safely for you and the level of reactivity you are at. On ginger, it is generally well tolerated but do what is best for you and skip if needed.

    chinese chicken salad | AFoodCentricLife.com

    Chinese Chicken Salad

    Crunchy napa cabbage, lots of colorful veggies, tender chicken, plus a creamy, light ginger vinaigrette. Inspired by our trip to Charleston, SC and Cafe Cru. This is a great make ahead recipe. Roast chicken, chop your veggies and make the dressing a few days ahead. You will have a nice lunch or dinner ready in about 5 minutes during the week. 
    Print Recipe Rate Recipe
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    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 15 minutes
    Course: Salad
    Cuisine: Chinese
    Servings: 4

    Ingredients

    Creamy Ginger Vinaigrette (makes â…” cup)

    • ¼ cup sesame oil toasted or plain
    • 3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar, white vinegar or Champagne vinegar
    • 1 ½ tablespoons ginger puree in a jar
    • 1 tablespoon low sodium tamari soy sauce or coconut aminos
    • 1 tablespoon creamy cashew butter or tahini, peanut butter
    • 2 teaspoons honey
    • ½ lime, juiced

    Salad

    • 1-2 heads Napa cabbage or Chinese cabbage
    • 2 large carrots scrubbed
    • 1 large red bell pepper
    • 1 large green bell pepper
    • 6-8 radishes
    • 2 scallions or green onions
    • 3-3 ½ cups cooked shredded chicken 1 pound
    • ¼ red onion

    Instructions

    Make the Dressing (Makes â…” cup)

    • Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth, about 20 seconds. 

    Prep the Salad

    • Slice cabbage crosswise into thin ribbons, starting at the top of the leaf. When you get down to mostly white core, discard the rest. Chop carrots and bell peppers into long thin pieces (julienne). For radishes, either slice thinly or quarter. For red onion, slice thin. For scallions, slice thin on the diagonal.

    Assemble the Salad

    • You can assemble the salad two ways. One - Add all veggies to a large bowl and toss together, add chicken with 6  tablespoons of dressing and toss again, divide between for plates and serve. Second, you can toss the veggies  with a little dressing and divide between four plates, then add the chicken on top. Serve extra dressing on the side. 

    Notes

    See notes in post for histamine intolerance tips.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Connie says

      May 16, 2017 at 11:28 am

      Do you have a PRINT button somewhere.

      Reply
      • Sally Cameron says

        May 16, 2017 at 12:38 pm

        Hi Connie, the print button is at the top of the post. Seems the one on the recipe itself has disappeared. Will have to check that out, thanks.

        Reply
    2. Mike M says

      May 17, 2017 at 2:49 am

      I was thinking about the same, to print the recipe. That salad looks amazing! Lovely pictures!

      Reply
      • Sally Cameron says

        May 17, 2017 at 5:38 pm

        Just fixed the problem Mike! Thanks guys, appreciate it!

        Reply
    3. Kelly says

      May 23, 2017 at 9:13 am

      Love, love, love this recipe! The flavors are unique and the crunchy vegetables are very refreshing. The perfect summer salad!

      Reply
    4. Taylor Reed says

      May 29, 2017 at 10:34 am

      I am in Taiwan now and I am confident to find the ingredients in a local market. I really appreciate Taiwan food and almost tasted everything aside from the stinky tofu. But somehow, I miss cooking my own food and I want a salad so this is perfect!

      Reply
      • Sally Cameron says

        May 29, 2017 at 2:07 pm

        Thanks Taylor. What a food adventure you are on. Lots to learn in Taiwan. Hope you enjoy the salad. The vinaigrette works great on gilded chicken, fish and shrimp too!

        Reply
    5. Debbie in Alaska says

      May 22, 2018 at 11:16 pm

      Yum!! This is a great salad. Next time I make it I will double the dressing recipe as I really like it and wanted more on my salad. I found a recipe online to make my own ginger puree. It's very easy to do. Thanks!!!

      Reply
      • Sally Cameron says

        May 23, 2018 at 12:23 pm

        Thanks Debbie! Yeah, that dressing is pretty tasty. Extra is always good! Glad you are enjoying.

        Reply

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