Food is Cynful: Oriental Chicken Salad

About the Cyn

As I have added more and more recipe's to this blog I've realized that these are such sweet tender memories for me. Just as a photograph or childhood story will bring back memories, food floods me with tons of remembrances of happy times in the past! From family dinners and times with friends to Grandma making toast in the frying pan, food has brought about a way to record my family history. Food has always been and remains a huge part of our gatherings and I feel so very blessed to be able to share my memories and such terrific recipe's with my family and anyone out there who has a few minutes to spare. It is my hope that someday my children and grandchildren will prepare these recipe's and know they were special to someone!

Cynful Explanations

Al dente – An Italian expression applied in all western kitchens to pasta cooked just until enough resistance is left in it to be felt “by the tooth.” Fresh pasta can never by cooked al dente as it is too soft. The expression is also applied to vegetables that have been cooked crisp by steaming, boiling, or stir-frying.
Baste – To moisten food during cooking with pan drippings, sauce, or other liquid. Basting prevents foods from drying out.
Bias-cut - To slice food at a steep angle increasing the surface area, makes a thinner cut easier and looks better.
Butterfly- To split a food (such as shrimp) down the center, cutting almost but not completely through. The two halves are then opened flat to resemble a butterfly shape.
Caramelize – The flavor of many foods, including vegetables, meats, and seafood, is often enhanced by a gentle browning that caramelizes natural sugars and other compounds and intensifies their flavor. Meats for stews, for example, are usually browned to caramelize juices that if not caramelized are much less flavorful. Chopped vegetables, especially aromatic ones such as carrots and onions, are often caramelized—sometimes with cubes of meat—in a small amount of fat before liquid is added to enhance the flavor of soups, stews, and sauces.
Dice – To cut into cubes (unlike chopping, which cuts foods into irregular pieces).
Dredge – To coat a food with flour, any finely crumbled ingredient, or, in pastry, with fine sugar.
Egg wash – A mixture of egg or egg white, oil, and water brushed over floured items, which are then deep-fried or pan-fried in clarified butter or oil.
Fold – To incorporate an egg-white foam into an egg yolk foam or a flour batter without deflating it so that it retains its full leavening power.
Julienne – To cut into long thin matchstick size strips.
Marinade – A mixture of ingredients used to flavor and moisten foods. May be liquid of dry. Liquid marinades are usually acidic based and dry marinades are usually salt based.
Mince – To chop very fine.
Piping - To force a food (typically frosting or whipped cream) through a pastry tip to use as a decoration or garnish, or to shape dough, such as that for éclairs.
Poach – To cook completely submerged in barely simmering liquid.
Puree – To work or strain foods until they are completely smooth.
Ramekin – A small, ovenproof dish, usually ceramic.
Render - To melt animal fat over low heat so that it separates from any connective pieces of tissue, which, during rendering, turn brown and crisp.
Resting – Roasted meats should not be served straight out of the over, but should be allowed to rest in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes, loosely covered with aluminum foil. (The foil keeps the meat warm; loose wrapping ensures that the outside of the meat doesn’t steam and lose its crispness.) Resting allows the meat to relax so the juices become redistributed in the meat and aren’t squeezed out onto the platter during carving.
Sauté – To cook over high heat in a small amount of fat in a sauté pan or skillet.
Scald – To heat milk just below the boiling point. Or, to immerse a vegetable or fruit in boiling water in order to remove its skin easily.
Sear – To brown the surface of pieces of meats and or fish by submitting them to intense initial heat.
Simmer – To maintain the temperature of a liquid just below boiling.
Steam – To cook in steam by suspending foods over (not in) boiling water, in a covered pot or steamer.
Stew – A cooking method nearly identical to braising but generally involving smaller pieces of meat, and hence a shorter cooking time. Also, the dish prepared by using this method of preparation.
Stir-fry – Chinese technique of cooking think slivers of meat, shellfish, and vegetables in hot oil.
Sweat – To cook foods over gentle heat, usually covered or partly covered, until they release their moisture. Vegetables, meats, and seafood are often sweated when making soups, stews, and sauces so that the foods release their juices into the pan and surrounding liquid. Sweating is the opposite of sautéing.
Tempura – A Japanese method of cooking vegetables and shellfish. They are coated with a light cornstarch batter and deep-fried.
Wok – A round-bottomed pan, usually made of rolled steel, used for virtually all Chinese cooking methods.
Zest – The thin, brightly colored outer part of the rind of citrus fruits. The oils make it ideal for use as a flavoring. Remove the zest with a grater, citrus zester, or vegetable peeler. Be careful to remove only the colored layer, not the bitter-white pith beneath it.

hen I think about this tasty salad, one particular night sticks out in my mind. My best friend Shelly was over and we were having three of my most favorite things. Oriental Chicken Salad, Artichokes, and my moms Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream. Shelly and I sat on the floor in the front room, devouring all three items and scheming up a way to convince her mom to let her come with me to Orem, Utah for a wedding that I had to be in. We ended up bringing her mom a bowl of salad and a bowl of ice cream and begging. Shelly got to go! This is a great salad. Good enough to convince a mother to let her 15 year old daughter go all the way to Orem with a barely 18 year old in the middle of winter! Need to bribe someone to do what you want? Here's what you do to make it:

Ingredients for Salad:
1 Head of finely chopped Cabbage
3 Packages of non cooked broken up Chicken flavored Ramen Noodles
3 Cups Chicken Diced
4-6 Green Onions Chopped Finely
1 Cup Sliced or Silvered Almonds
1 Cup Sunflower Seeds

Ingredients for Dressing:
6 tbsp Vinegar
3/4 Cup of Salad Oil (Olive Oil if you can)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 tsp of Season salt
3 Spice Packets from Ramen Noodles

You will want to start with the biggest bowl you can find. Trust me! I don't have one big enough and I have to use two. I like to cook the chicken before hand in a little chicken broth or chicken bullion. Gives it just a little bit more flavor. While it is cooling you chop everything up and add it all in together. The onions are kind of by taste. If you are a big onion fan do all six, if not, tone it down a bit. The original recipe calls for a lot less nuts but well we are a bit nutty and we like more. Don't forget to cut up your chicken and add it in before you pour the dressing over the top. Also if you want to have everything be really crisp and crunchy, plan on having it finished about three hours before serving and don't put the raw noodles in until right before. We like the noodles to soak up a bit of the oil and flavor so we throw everything in to get all happy together. When you make the dressing, add in all the ingredients and then whisk together really well, then immediately pour over the salad. You'll want to mix the dressing through the salad to cover everything well. Let your salad sit covered in the refrigerator for at least a few hours to completely cool. Right before serving mix it through one last time to bring the dressing back around from the bottom where it will most certainly settle. It's one of those dishes that you will keep eating because you never really feel full after just one bowl. It's extremely addicting as well. One last tip. It keeps pretty good for a few days, that is if you can get any left overs, so don't be afraid of it going limp. The cabbage goes a little limp but it's not bad. Just remember to stir it back around and get all the dressing that has fallen to the bottom.

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Oriental Chicken Salad

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