fried chicken salad
i think this is so good and its inspired by my favorite type of dish ever which are thai meat salads essentially. i wont get into all the history but by this i mean dishes like larb and nam tok neua (waterfall beef) that combine meat with herbs, lime juice, fish sauce, chilies, etc. they have the perfect blend of flavors and textures and are my favorite way to eat meat.
i know these as coming from Thailand’s northern Isaan region, which is right on the border with Laos, and this is sorta basically lao food that we know as thai in america partly because it is also eaten in thailand but also because it was easier to market here that way. i really recommend Hawker Fare by James Syhabout as both a great cookbook and an overview of this history. i have a copy and can lend u it!
i have seen some thai cooks do a similar type of fried chicken salad but i’m not aiming for anything authentic here okay. i serve it with regular short grain rice and not proper sticky rice. but you could do that if you want i bet it would be super good. i’ve had people over and i make some side dishes and rice and the sauce for this and then i ask someone to pick up some chicken on the way over, and other people bring beers or something and it makes it super easy and fun and collaborative i think.
btw theres a thing at popeyes where if you fill out a survey you get two pieces of chicken free and that would be a nice and cheap way to make this recipe.
ingredients:
fish sauce
brown sugar
lime juice
chili flakes
toasted rice powder*
cilantro
sliced red onion
fried chicken (i like dark meat but anything works)
white rice
*you can toast rice in a dry pan until golden brown and then grind it up. it should be sticky rice but any white rice will work ok. something crunchy and nutty like sesame seeds or even breadcrumbs could also work here
directions:
take the chicken off the bone if it’s on one and then cut it up, save some of the crispy bits to put on top.
mix up the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and chili flakes in a bowl, keep adding each thing until it tastes super good.
add in the onions and then the chicken pieces, then mix all together w the cilantro and rice powder. serve with/over rice!! thats it.