Thai Chicken Rice Salad

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil
• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 2 small red Thai red chili peppers, de-seeded and chopped
• 4 scallions, trimmed and sliced
• 1 1/4 lbs cooked jasmine rice (cook 7oz rice to get this amount)
• 1 lb cooked chicken, shredded
• 1 ounce fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 ounce fresh cilantro leaves
• 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced (or preserved lime leaves from jar)
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 ounce toasted salted cashews (optional)

Directions

1. 1

   Prepare the lemongrass. Peel off the hard outer layers, trim the base, slice very finely then bash with a knife to bruise them and release the flavour and scent.

2. 2

   Heat a frying pan or wok over a fairly high heat. Add the oil, prepared lemongrass, chili and scallions, and cook for 2 minutes Set aside.

3. 3

   Put the rice, chicken, mint, cilantro, lime leaves and warm lemongrass mixture into a bowl and toss gently to mix.

4. 4

   Whisk together the lime juice, sugar, fish sauce and sesame oil. Pour over salad and mix gently.

5. 5

   Chill before serving, if preferred. Spoon salad into small bowls. Sprinkle with cashew nuts, if you like.