This is what I had for supper this evening, and is inspired by a salad I discovered recently in Pret a Manger and simply can’t get enough of. Many of my friends have fallen in love with the salad too so I promised to try and re-create it at home. This version actually comes quite close. The Pret salad works best eaten fridge cold, but this was very nice with the chicken still warm from the oven. Pret’s also has edamame beans (soy beans) in it. You could always add some peas or skinned broad beans (I just didn’t have any). The secret to achieving an authentic Korean flavour (alongside Kimchi, the fermented cabbage the Koreans eat with everything), is their national chilli paste, ‘Gochujang’. The only two places I know of that sell it are Tesco (larger stores only) and Souschef.co.uk. You can try and do without it and make an alternative using white miso, sugar, garlic, tomato ketchup, white balsamic vinegar and chilli sauce (like sriracha) but it won’t be quite the same. If you like Korean flavours and want to make Korean food at home it’s definitely worth investing in a tub. It will keep in the fridge for quite a while. And if you visit Souschef, chances are you’ll end up buying a few other things too – it’s a fabulous resource for difficult to find and interesting ingredients. And you do need the kimchi for this dish too.

Ingredients (serves 1):

For the marinade and dressing:

• 4 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
• 2/3 heaped teaspoons of Korean chilli paste, Gochujang
• Thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
• 3 small cloves of garlic or 2 larger ones, crushed
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce (use a gluten free version like Kikkoman Gluten Free Soy Sauce) to make the dish gluten free)
• 1 tablespoon of soft brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of runny honey

• 1 chicken breast (or boneless thighs, which would also work well)

Mix marinade/dressing ingredients together. Taste, and add more chilli paste/honey/soy sauce/ginger/sugar if you think it needs it.  Reserve just over half as dressing and put the chicken breast into the rest and cover with clingfilm. Marinade the chicken for up to 24 hours, depending on how long before you want to eat you have the foresight to start the marinating process. I only marinated it for half an hour and it was still delicious.

For the salad:

• 1 egg
• 1 carrot
• A quarter of a red cabbage
• Chinese leaf (lettuce; Waitrose stock it)
• Rice or soba noodles (I used soba as that was all I had in the cupboard this evening)
• Two tablespoons of kimchi (also from Souchef.com)
• White and black sesame seeds (Sainsbury’s stock them)

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c (fan)

1) Using a ridged griddle pan, sear the chicken breast on both sides until it has nice dark stripes, then transfer to the oven for 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the breast.

2) Boil the egg for 6-7 minutes (you want it soft but not runny). Then run it under cold water, peel off the shell and slice into quarters.

3) Cook the noodles according to pack instructions (usually 5 minutes in boiling water).

4) Using a mandolin, finely slice the red cabbage.

5) Using a vegetable peeler, thinly slice the carrot.

6) Using a knife, finely slice the Chinese leaf lettuce.

7) Mix together the vegetables:

8)  Pour half of the reserved dressing over the vegetables.

9) Add the drained and cooled noodles, the kimchi and the egg quarters.

10) Slice the chicken breast and place on top.

11) Pour over the remaining dressing and sprinkle on some white and black sesame seeds.

Yum!