Pomelo & Mandarin Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
Poaching Liquid
- 12 ounces Chinese beer
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 slice ginger
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 whole bone-in chicken breast
- 1 small pomelo
- ¼ cup smooth peanut butter
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- ¼ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- ¼ cup diced red bell pepper
- ¼ cup diced yellow bell pepper
- ¼ cup chopped green onions
- ½ cup chopped napa cabbage
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
- ½ cup mandarin segments
- 8 leaves Boston Bibb lettuce
- ¼ cup chopped peanuts
- To poach the chicken: Combine all the poaching ingredients together in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the chicken and boil for 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside, covered, until poaching liquid is room temperature. Once the chicken is cooled in the poaching liquid, remove with tongs, saving poaching liquid for another use. Remove and discard the skin. Remove the meat from the bones. Thinly slice the meat and transfer to a medium bowl.
- While the chicken is cooling, make the dressing. Combine all the dressing ingredients together in another medium bowl, whisking until well mixed. Set aside.
- Slice the ends off of the pomelo with a sharp knife. Hold the fruit with one cut side down on the board, and slice downward from the top to bottom to remove the peel and thick white pith, working your way around the fruit. Now cut toward the center of the fruit on one side of the membrane. Slice the fruit segment while leaving the membrane intact. Transfer the segments the bowl with the chicken and discard membrane.
- Add the bell peppers, green onions, napa cabbage, mint, and mandarin segments to bowl with the chicken. Add half of the dressing and gently toss until everything is well coated. Spoon some of the mixture into each lettuce leaf. Garnish each with more of the dressing and chopped peanuts.
Recipe adapted from Martin Yan's Quick & Easy (Chronicle Books) Copyrights Yan Can Cook, Inc. 2010
Martin Yan is the author of Martin Yan's China. Buy the book on Amazon: Martin Yan's China
About Master Chef Martin Yan:
The celebrated host of over 3,000 cooking shows, broadcast worldwide, Martin Yan enjoys distinction as a certified Master Chef, a highly respected food consultant, a cooking instructor and a prolific author. His diverse talents have found expression in 30 cookbooks, including the award-winning Martin Yan's Feast, Martin Yan's Asian Favorites, Chinese Cooking for Dummies, Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking (intro by Julia Child), Martin Yan's Quick & Easy, and his latest, Martin Yan's China (a cookbook that documents his travels throughout the far reaches of China, and his culinary discoveries).
Website: www.yancancook.com
Fun facts about pomelos:
- Common name is Pomelo. Other names include Shaddock or Chinese Grapefruit.
- Scientific name is Citrus Maxima and is an ancient ancestor of the common grapefruit.
- The season runs from November through March.
- Widely seen during Lunar New Year, the Chinese believe it is a symbol of prosperity and good fortune and good things will happen to you if you eat it!
- High in vitamin C.
- Sizes can range from a 5" in diameter (about the size of a cantaloupe) to 20"inches.
