Bang bang chicken on glass noodles

Since it's the day after Memorial Day, I wanted to start off the week with a healthy meal. We all know there were barbecues left and right and copious amounts of alcohol being consumed so why not cleanse the body with a fresh lunch?

Bang bang chicken on glass noodles

Recipe adapted from adorasbox.net

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 large chicken breast

4 cups water

1/2 cup sake

1 tsp whole peppercorns

2 dried chili de arbol

3 whole garlic

1/4 red onion, sliced

10 oz dried glass noodles

2 cucumbers, julienned

1 tomato, cut into wedges

2 cups cabbage, shredded

2 carrots, shredded

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 chili, thinly sliced (optional)

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Dressing:

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

1 tsp chili oil

1 tsp sesame oil

Directions

1. For the chicken, combine the water, sake, peppercorns, dried chili de arbol, garlic cloves, and sliced red onion in the pot. Heat over high until bubbles start to arise. You want the liquid to be at poaching temperature (160-175F), just barely simmering. Add the chicken and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until done.
2. Remove chicken from the poaching liquid. Using a rolling pin or mallet, gently pound on the chicken. Using your hands, shred the meat. 
3. Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave for 7 minutes. Drain and refresh with cold water. Transfer to four plates and top with 1/2 cucumber, 1/4 tomato, 1/2 cup cabbage, 1/2 carrot, 1/8 sliced red onions, chili, 1 tbsp chopped peanuts and 1/3 cup shredded chicken each.
4. For the dressing, whisk all of the ingredients together and drizzle over the salad.

Nutritional Analysis:
per serving (1 cup of glass noodles and 1/4 cup sauce):  686.5 calories, 23.7g fat (3.7g saturated, 5.2g polyunsaturated, 7.4g monounsaturated), 72.5g carbohydrates, 5.7g fiber, 35.4 protein.

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

Bang bang chicken originally is cooked by simmering it in water, but I wanted to add more flavor to the liquid so I added the seasonings listed above. To poach a chicken, you want the water to be barely simmering, cooking the chicken nice and slow so it keeps its moisture. If your water begins to simmer or even boil, reduce your heat and check your chicken often, as it may cook sooner than 15-20 minutes. 

The whole idea behind the name bang bang chicken was that when the cooks were trying to separate the meat, they would bang on the chicken. It does make it easier to shred the chicken, but if you insist, you may skip this step and simply shred the meat.

There are two ways to cook the noodles, the first is described in the recipe. The second method is to bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook for about 7-8 minutes or until the noodles are done; if they are ready, they should cut in half easily. Remove from the water, drain, and refresh in cold water. Cut the noodles if they are too long.

Although my tomatoes and carrots are not prepared according to the recipe, I would have preferred to shred the carrots and cut the tomatoes into wedges (it's the day after a holiday, everyone makes mistakes!)

The sauce does get thick as it sits so it's best to make it right before serving. You can drizzle the dressing on top or toss all of the ingredients with the dressing in a bowl before plating. For presentation, it does like nicer if you simply drizzle the sauce; however, the noodles do not get coated very well. By mixing everything together beforehand, all of the ingredients are nicely coated with the peanut sauce, although it may look messier. 

The bang bang chicken was great! It tasted so healthy and light, perfect for the summer. The red onions added a bit of spiciness and the peanuts added a crunch. This recipe adds more vegetables than other traditional recipes list. If you want it more simple, just top the noodles with cucumbers, chicken, sliced green onions, crispy shallots, chili, and the peanuts (original recipe from adorasbox.net).

Just to take an extra step, I also made Korean green onion pancakes with a soy sauce dip on the side.