Chicken and green papaya salad
(Serves 4)
For the dressing
juice of 4 limes
4tbsp sesame oil
pinch of brown sugar
splash of fish sauce
2 red chillis, deseeded and finely chopped
For the salad
1 bag mixed salad leaves
1 cucumber, cut into ribbons using a vegetable peeler
1 green papaya, cut into matchsticks, seeds removed (or 1 ripe mango, sliced thinly)
1 small red onion, finely diced
6 spring onions, sliced diagonally
bunch each of fresh thai basil, coriander and mint, leaves picked
handful of cashews, toasted in a dry frying pan and roughly chopped
4 free range chicken breasts
1tbsp olive oil
To make the dressing, mix together all the ingredients together and stir well to dissolve the sugar.
In a large bowl, mix all the salad ingredients except the nuts. Toss with the dressing and set aside.
Using a meat tenderiser, saucepan or a rolling pin, bash each chicken breast between two pieces of cling film until it is about 1.5cm thick all over. Season with salt.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium to high heat. Place the chicken breasts in the pan and fry for about 4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.
Put one piece of chicken on each plate and carefully build the salad on top. Sprinkle over the chopped cashews and decorate with extra coriander leaves.
The Independent