Shredded chicken, cucumber and noodle salad

"If you’re going to roast a chicken, try to get at least three meals out of one chook. Serve lots of vegetables with the roast so you’ll have leftover meat to make this salad, and use the bones to make a stock." Matthew Evans, For the Love of Meat

Credit: Alan Benson

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 250 g thin egg noodles
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 350 g (2 cups) finely shredded cooked chicken
• 2 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, halved lengthways and seeds removed, thinly sliced
• 4 radishes, thinly sliced
• 30 g (1 cup) coriander (cilantro) leaves, to garnish

Dressing

• 2 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 whole star anise
• 1 tbsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 tsp sugar
• 125 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil
• 2 cm piece ginger, peeled and grated 

Cooling time 15 minutes

Instructions

To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Once cooled, remove and discard the star anise.

Cook the noodles in a large saucepan of boiling water following the directions on the packet. Rinse the cooked noodles under cold water and drain well, then toss through the dressing and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and white pepper together. Add the chicken and toss to coat, then add the noodles and spring onions and toss well, making sure the noodles are well covered in the soy mixture. Stir through the cucumber and radish. 

To serve, divide the noodles among four bowls and sprinkle generously with coriander leaves. 

Photography by Alan Benson. Styling by Vanessa Austin. Food preparation by Alex Herbert.

For The Love of Meat with Matthew Evans starts Thursday 20 October at 7.30pm on SBS and then on SBS On Demand.  Visit the program page for show information, related articles and more recipes. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.