Chicken Salad Asian

Culture & politics, wrapped up in an excuse to eat more salads... with Mandarin orange on top. by Nick Cho @nickcho http://www.nickcho.com Korean-American, male, heterosexual, cisgender, father, & specialty coffee professional. San Francisco, California, USA

[chickensaladasian]

Vietnamese Chicken Salad, Gott's Roadside, Napa, CA

"Romaine lettuce & shredded cabbage tossed with carrots, bean sprouts, cucumber, pickled fresno chiles, green onions, mint, cilantro, grilled chicken breast, peanuts & lime vinaigrette & topped with crispy onions. $10.99"

This was one of those order-at-the-counter-take-a-buzzy-remote-coaster places with a giant wall-sized menu that you read while standing in line. I was already set on getting the CCS on the menu, but this VCS was posted on the "specials" sheet at the register. 

I guess they think lime, cilantro, mint, and peanuts make this Vietnamese. There was definitely a pleasing tartness (I love vinegary flavors a lot... more than most people), but it was a fairly small salad, even for $10.99.

This is my third salad post to this blog, and one thing that I've noticed is that the dressings have been the highlight of these ACSs. There's something about the 'challenge' of an Asian salad dressing that results in strong and complex flavor combinations. It makes me wonder if that's why these salad-chefs (whoever they are) seem to get fairly lazy about the rest of the salad. A little tweaking, and this VCS at Gott's could have been really great. Tweak #1: don't serve it in a paper container meant for onion rings.

Ratings (zero to four stars) Asianness: ** Chickenness: * Saladness: ** Overall: **

[chickensaladasian]

Squat & Gobble Cafe & Crepery ASIAN GRILLED CHICKEN SALAD: Shredded Romaine Hearts, Bean Sprouts, Cucumbers, Red Onions, Red Peppers, Asian Noodles, Peanuts, Cilantro, Basil, Mint & Sweet Sesame Soy Dressing -$11.75 West Portal here in San Francisco is one of those middle-of-everything-and-totally-out-of-the-way neighborhoods that every city has. I arrived here on my Vespa an hour before my oral surgeon appointment, immediately worried about how I was going to stretch my solo lunch out to an entire 60 minutes. The salad helped. By 'helped,' I actually mean that this was possibly the most frustrating salad I've ever eaten. I didn't know it before this moment, but there's a perfect size to chop lettuce down to that makes it nearly impossible to pick up with a fork. It's small enough that when I go to pierce it, it squirms out of the way. It's big enough that when I switch to scoop-fork mode, the bits fall right off the fork. I've resorted to stabbing and scooping over and over until some salad actually gets caught in the tines. Am I eating a salad, or am I fly fishing? The chicken is dry and overcooked and sparse. The salad isn't tossed enough, with dueling zones of over- and under-dressing. The dressing itself has nice flavor, but the weird lettuce-size problem is so maddening it ruins the whole experience. I've actually run out of time. How is this possible? Ratings (zero to four stars) Asianness: * Chickenness: * Saladness: * Overall: *

[chickensaladasian]

California Pizza Kitchen

“Napa and red cabbage, lettuce, chicken and wontons tossed with scallions, cilantro, sesame seeds and hoisin ginger vinaigrette.”

I can’t exactly explain why. Maybe it’s because I’ve had them so often for so many years, but there are two Asian Chicken Salads that are the definitive examples. One is CPK’s. I’ll try to get to the other one soon.

CPK’s salad features three of the four classic staples of the Asian/Chinese Chicken Salad: sesame seeds, slivered carrots, and fried wontons or noodles. Missing are Mandarin orange segments, which would kick this already sweet salad way out of balance. 

The napa cabbage adds a fresh, watery crunch that most ACS’s lack, with an almost fennel-like texture mixed into each bite. However, the hoisin-based dressing pushes the sweetness and acidity a couple points beyond what I’d call “balanced.” Also, this is one of those salads that starts getting soggy fairly quickly. I do appreciate the quantity of chicken chunks.

Ratings (zero to four stars) Asianness: * Chickenness: ** Saladness: ** Overall: **

[chickensaladasian]

First post

I tried this before, and I'm going to be more successful this time.

This blog is about culture and politics, as well as about salads that are deemed Chinese, oriental, or otherwise Asian. I like Chinese Chicken Salads. I also think that the idea that Mandarin orange segments and sesame seeds on top take iceberg lettuce and cold strips of chicken breast and transform it into something Chinese is hilarious, and a little bit offensive. 

I can like the salad and hate it at the same time. Every post that follows this one is part of the explanation why.