Shredded Chicken Salad With Gochujang Dressing Recipe

Updated May 09, 2019

It's easy to hate on chicken salad. All too often, it's bland, dry, and colorless, perhaps with a hint of dill tossed in as an afterthought. But this chicken salad is anything but bland and boring. The chicken is slowly poached in an aromatic mixture of water, sake, and ginger until it's tender and easy to pull apart. To make the salad, the shredded chicken is tossed with watercress, lettuce, cucumber, and onion, then drizzled with a sweet, spicy, and tart gochujang dressing.

Shredded Chicken Salad With Gochujang Dressing

Recipe Details

Shredded Chicken Salad With Gochujang Dressing Recipe

Active 15 mins

Total 30 mins

Serves 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Salad:
2 cups water
3 slices of ginger, ¼ inch thick
1 cup sake
1 tablespoon table salt
1 whole boneless skinless chicken breast half (about 8 ounces)
1/2 bunch watercress, thick stems discarded
3 ounces mix baby leaf lettuce
1/4 English cucumber, sliced
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
For the Dressing:
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons mirin
4 teaspoons gochujang
2 teaspoons rice vinegar

Directions

Heat water and ginger in a small saucepan until simmering. Add sake and salt and stir to combine. Add chicken. Return to a simmer, cover, remove from heat, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the dressing. Combine sesame oil, mirin, gochujang, and vinegar an a small bowl and whisk together with a fork. Set aside.
When chicken has cooked, remove from poaching liquid and let rest until cool enough to handle. Shred meat into bite-sized pieces.
Combine watercress, lettuce, cucumber, and onionin a large serving bowl. Spread chicken on top. Drizzle with half of the dressing and serve with the remaining dressing on the side.