Hue Chicken Salad (Ga Bop)

I first tasted this elegant dish on my first visit to Hue in Vietnam. Hue is renowned for its fine royal cuisine and this is a testament of that . As you can notice very few ingredients are used here but every single one of them has to be the absolute best.  The handling of the ingredients too are not to be taken lightly as any flaws can greatly affect the final dish. This is certainly a dish that will test one's knife skill, cooking skill and patience all at once but the reward is more than words could describe. Vietnamese salad is consumed like Thai salad as part of a meal with plenty of steamed rice.

P.S Recipe by one of my reader Pham, thank you!

serves 4 to 6 as part of a Vietnamese meal

you'll need;

1/2 a chicken or a small chicken, poached* and shredded.

5 cm knob of ginger, sliced

2 spring onions (white part only)

1 star anise

1 brown onion, very thinly sliced, rinsed and drained well

juice of 1 lime

3 bird chilies (or 1 large red chili for a milder version)

2 tsp of sugar

1 tsp of black pepper

1 tsp of salt

1 tbs of peanut oil

1 bunch (about 1 cup) of Vietnamese mint

lettuce

* chicken is poached the Chinese way which produces the most tender meat every time.

method 1 - Place chicken, ginger, star anise, spring onion in a pot. Cover chicken with water and bring it to a boil, cover on heat off and leave chicken til the water cools down.

method 2 - Place chicken, ginger, star anise, spring onion in a pot. Cover chicken with water and bring it

to a boil, cover on and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the chicken.

Poach the chicken using any of the above method. Reserve cooking stock for other uses.

Shred half the chicken (keep the other half as topping for noodles or congee)

Slice the onion very finely and the chilies.

Vietnamese mint - can't do without this, pick an set aside.

Massage chicken with sugar, black pepper, oil, salt and lime juice, yes massage very well then add in the onions and chilies. Mix well.

Finally mix in the Vietnamese mint and mix well, check for seasonings. Well it is really not that hard is it?

Serve as part of a Vietnamese meal with plenty of steamed rice.

This has been submitted to Delicious Vietnam,  an event co-hosted by Anh of A Food Lover's Journey and Hong and Kim of Ravenous Couple. Hong and Kim are hosting the June event.