This chinese chickenless salad uses soy or seitan stips instead of chicken, hence the name chickenless. It is fresh, crisp, crunchy, nutty, sweet, and tart. The fried bits on top give it an oh so delicious bit of crispy fried taste. I am not one that thinks everything fried is good, but a little bit of fried adds a nice touch. I tried using wonton strips and bean thread. I love how the bean thread puffs up. This salad has origins in California according to Wikipedia , which makes sense, because while there are Chinese ingredients, the salad doesn’t really taste Chinese!
Dressing (approximate measurements – adjust to your taste)
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4-6 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons fresh ginger minced
The Salad
1 romaine lettuce head chopped (if you use romaine hearts, you will need more)
1/3 cabbage chopped
1 carrot julienned
4 green onions sliced
1 cup cilantro chopped
1/2 cup slivered almonds toasted
1/2 cup peanuts roasted and crushed into small pieces
Oil for deep frying
4 wonton wrappers sliced into 6 strips each
1/2 bunch bean thread (glass noodles)
1 teaspoon oil
Soy or seitan strips
1 small can mandarin oranges drained
Dressing
- Prep all the veggies.
- Toast the nuts.
- Heat the deep frying oil and fry the wonton wrapper stips until light brown. Drain oil on a paper towel lined plate.
- Deep fry the glass noodles. They poof up very fast!
- Saute your soy or seitan strips in a teaspoon of oil.
- Toss everything but the fried wontons and glass noodles with dressing.
- Top with a few wontons and glass noodles.