This incredibly delicious Burmese chicken salad, adapted slightly from the Burma Superstar cookbook, gets its bulk, heft, and incredible texture from shredded green cabbage, sliced cucumber, shredded rotisserie chicken, crispy onions, raw onions, jalapeño, toasted chickpea flour, cilantro, and garlic chips. Fish sauce and lime juice impart complexity into each bite.
Toast Garbanzo Flour: Spread the chickpea flour into a small dry skillet. Place over medium heat, stirring often, until the flour is golden brown and toasted, roughly 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl to cool completely.
Prepare the Salad: Place half of the sliced onion in a small bowl. Squeeze one juicy lime over the onion mixture, toss lightly, and set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad. Allowing the raw onion to sit in the lime juice helps temper the raw flavor.
In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the remaining sliced onion to the pan (they should sizzle as they hit the oil) and shallow fry, stirring the onion continuously, until the slices have shriveled, are evenly golden brown in color, and crispy.
Assemble the Salad: Transfer the crispy onions, as well as the cooking oil (this infused onion oil will essentially be the oil in the 'vinaigrette' of the salad) to a large salad bowl and allow the oil to cool to room temperature. Add the shredded rotisserie chicken, cabbage, cucumber, jalapeño pepper, cilantro, and toasted (and cooled) chickpea flour. Toss with tongs until well combined. Add the fish sauce, salt, and reserved raw onion and lime mixture, and juice of the remaining ½ lime. Toss again.
Season to taste, adding more fish sauce or lime juice to taste as needed. Serve and top with crushed garlic chips as desired.
Notes:
This salad is best served immediately after it is prepared, but leftovers can hold up in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours. However, the vegetables will wilt and lose crispness as it sits.To cut down on prep time, garlic chips can be prepared and made in advance.
Tips for Success:
My favorite brand of fish sauce is made by Red Boat.
Chickpea flour provides just a touch of nuttiness to the salad, as well as body to the vinaigrette, and I highly recommend it – however, the salad can stand on its own without it. Leftover chickpea flour can be used in baking, batters, and other applications.