Korean-Style Salad with Cucumber and Chicken

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Rinse the boneless chicken fillet under running water. If you can, use the so-called "tenderloin" — the small strip that sits under the main breast muscle. It's very tender and ideal for salads. Pour cold filtered water into a saucepan and add the chicken, half a peeled onion, a clove of garlic, and a little hot chili. Set the saucepan over medium heat. Save the other half of the onion for the salad.

2. Step 2:

   

   Once it comes to a boil, salt the chicken and cook over medium heat for twenty minutes. Then take the chicken out and let it cool. You won't need the broth or the vegetables anymore.

3. Step 3:

   

   While the chicken cools, let's deal with the vegetables. Scrub the carrot with a brush under running water and grate it on a julienne (Korean carrot) grater. These fine strips give the salad a more interesting look, so I don't recommend using a regular grater. Sometimes a single ingredient can completely change a dish's appearance.

4. Step 4:

   

   Wash the cucumbers under running water, cut them in half lengthwise, and then into thin slices on the diagonal. You'll end up with slices like these.

5. Step 5:

   

   Slice the remaining half onion into thin half-rings. This is the last ingredient in our vegetable lineup.

6. Step 6:

   

   Salt the vegetables and stir them with a spoon. If you like, you can lightly — lightly! — scrunch them with your hands to soften them, even to the point of being a bit crushed, but I won't. In the finished dish the vegetables won't be as crisp as we're used to in Slavic-style salads anyway. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for half an hour to release its juices.

7. Step 7:

   

   Drain the vegetables in a colander and rinse them under filtered water — or boiled water at room temperature. Let the excess water drain and return the vegetables to the bowl.

8. Step 8:

   

   Cut the cooled chicken breast across the grain into thin slices, add it to the vegetables, and mix. Transfer the salad to a serving dish and set it aside for three minutes — all that's left is to make the dressing.

9. Step 9:

   

   For the dressing, mix the soybean or sesame oil, mustard, and lemon juice in a small bowl.

10. Step 10:

    

    Add the rice vinegar and liquid honey.

11. Step 11:

    

    Plus the soy sauce.

12. Step 12:

    

    Whisk the dressing thoroughly. It probably won't come together into a smooth emulsion because the ingredients have different densities. For the same reason, toss the salad well before serving. Pour the dressing over the salad.

13. Step 13:

    

    Rinse the fresh cilantro under running water, shake it dry, and chop it finely. Get out the chili pepper flakes. Garnish the finished salad and serve.