Cold Noodles with Shredded Chicken

Cold noodle salad is a perfect dish for a hot summer day. It works for any occasions: parties, picnics, family gatherings, potlucks. Serve it as either salad or main course, everybody will love it. It is easy to make, no need to saute or stir fry, just simply boiling and mixing well all ingredients. Voila! you are ready to go!

This is one of the recipes that I make often for gatherings.

Ingredients and Notes

You'll need:

• Half chicken breast (200g)
• 1 green onion, cut into 2-inch long pieces
• 5 g ginger, cut into slices
• 1 tbsp cooking wine
• 100g Noodles
• 1/2 English cucumbers or 2 mini cucumbers
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp LaoGanMa or homemade chili oil
• 1/6 tsp chicken broth mix
• 1 tsp Chinese dark vinegar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Few leaves of Chinese green (Bok Choy) (optional)

Notes and Variations

• What kinds of noodles can you use? You can use any kind of noodles, pasta, dry or fresh, thin or thick.
• What kinds of chili sauce can you use? If you don't have LaoGanMa chili crispy, use any of your favourite spicy chili sauce. You can also leave this out if you want to make a non-spicy version of this recipe.
• What kinds of wine can you use? I used Chinese cooking wine. But you can use white wine.

Step-by-step Instructions

In a pot, add green onion, ginger and cooking wine and bring to a boil. Add chicken breast to the boiling water, lower the heat and simmer for ~20 minutes till the internal temperature measured in the thickest part should be 75 degrees Celsius or 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the chicken breast cool down, and then shred off in small pieces.

While chicken breast cooks, wash the cucumber, and cut it in half, then cut into thin slices, then stack few up and cut into matchstick-sized strips

Whisk the egg. Heat a fry pan on medium heat, add 1tbsp oil, when the oil is hot, add the egg to the pan, and wait for one side to become solid, then flip the egg and cook the other side to solidify. Transfer to the cutting board, cut it into thin slices.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook over medium heat. Once it is done, drain well and set aside to cool off. Take a large bowl, combine cold noodles, egg skin slices, chicken pieces, cucumber strips together.

Add LaoGanMa spicy source, salt, light soy sauce, chicken broth mix, Chinese dark vinegar, sugar, sesame oil to the bowl, mix well

Optional step:
Once the noodles are a minute away from done, add in the leafy greens to blanch. Drain well, and then add to the chicken and cucumber and noodles.

Serve and Enjoy!

Top Tip

Add wine while boiling the chicken breast. This will season the meat as it poaches, making it more flavorful.

Use a meat thermometer to control the doneness of the chicken breast.

Storage

If you have leftover, store it in the fridge. But I do recommend to finish it in the same day. I find it doesn't taste as fresh the next day if staying overnight in the fridge.

Related

Looking for other cold noodle recipes? Try these:

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Cold Noodles with Shredded Chicken

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: cold noodle with chicken shreds

Servings: 1 person

Ingredients

• 100 g noodles
• half chicken breast (200 g)
• 1 green onion, cut into 2-inch long pieces
• 5 g ginger, cut into slices
• 1 tablespoon cooking wine
• ½ English cucumbers or 2 mini cucumbers
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon LaoGanMa spicy sauce
• ⅙ teaspoon chicken broth mix
• 1 teaspoon Chinese dark vinegar
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• Few leaves of Chinese green (Bok Choy) (optional)

Instructions

• In a pot, add green onion, ginger and cooking wine and bring to a boil. Add chicken breast to the boiling water, lower the heat and simmer for ~20 minutes till the internal temperature measured in the thickest part should be 75 degrees Celsius or 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Let the chicken breast cool down, and then shred off in small pieces.
• Wash the cucumber, and cut it in half, then cut into thin slices, then stack few up and cut into matchstick-sized strips
• Whisk the egg. Heat a fry pan on medium heat, add 1tbsp oil, when the oil is hot, add the egg to the pan, and wait for one side to become solid, then flip the egg and cook the other side to solidify. Transfer to the cutting board, cut it into thin slices
• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook over medium heat. Once it is done, drain well and set aside to cool off. Take a large bowl, combine cold noodles, egg skin slices, chicken pieces, cucumber strips together
• Add LaoGanMa spicy source, salt, light soy sauce, chicken broth mix, Chinese dark vinegar, sugar, sesame oil to the bowl, mix well
• Optional step:

  Once the noodles are a minute away from done, add in the leafy greens to blanch. Drain well, and then add to the chicken and cucumber and noodles.
• Serve and Enjoy!

Notes

• Add wine while boiling the chicken breast. This will season the meat as it poaches, making it more flavorful.
• Use a meat thermometer to control the doneness of the chicken breast.

Food Safety

It is very important to make sure the chicken breast is thoroughly cooked. On the other hand, don't cook it for too long to avoid chewy texture on dry meat. The trick is to use a meat thermometer.

The internal temperature measured in the thickest part should be 75 degrees Celsius or 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you cook a frozen chicken meat, I feel it is imperative to use a thermometer to control the inner temperature. One quick tip to check the readiness is to cut a piece in the middle, the meat should be white and juicy, and no pink is allowed.