How To Make The Juiciest Poached Chicken Breast + Bonus: Japanese-style chicken salad.

Japanese-style green salad with avocado, soft boiled egg and juicy poached chicken.

Hope you will enjoy this quick and easy Japanese style salad. I like the simplicity of this salad and I always feel so good after eating it. This salad is a part of the yōshoku cuisine which means inspired by western food.

I have never shared my method for poached chicken that I’ve used for many years and I feel like it’s the perfect timing to share it with you guys. It’s officially spring and we can shake off all the extra kilos from our waist that warmed us during this winter. I’m not a fan of dieting, life is too beautiful to spend it suffering from hunger. But I truly believe in balance. And I truly believe in the little tricks you can do to establish your balance. Green salad with a portion of right protein is one of the tricks. We need protein especially in time when seasons are changing. It helps build and repair cells and body tissues, including the skin, hair, muscle, and bone. With age we need to consume more protein to support our muscles. You probably know that chicken breast is one of the best sources of protein. One chicken breast contains about 30 grams of protein, which is a lot comparing with other parts of chicken or other sources of protein. Additionally, chicken breast is low fat meat, so its killing two birds with one stone.

The only problem with chicken breast meat, is that it’s pretty bland and dry. When I studied at a culinary school my hardest task was to poach chicken breast using correct timing. My chicken breast has always turned out dry and chewy. I found my right cooking method few years later.

All you need is just to place chicken breast (or two) to a large pot of boiling water, bring to the boil, turn the heat off, close the pot with a lid tightly and left on stove until it’s completely chilled. I use 5 L sup pot and it works great, you will need a plenty of boiling water, otherwise chicken breast can be undercooked. The chicken meat will be cooked by gentle heat of the hot water remaining after you turned off the heat. This is a fail proof method to get juicy and tender chicken breast that will shine in any salad. You also can pull the meat into threads and add it when serve your chicken soup, yummy.

I usually prefer to stay away from supermarket bought salad dressings because of sugar content, but this Japanese mayo and roasted sesame dressing has an exemption. The dressing is rich, flavourful and well seasoned, just few tablespoons will put the taste of your salad on new level. BTW It’s not paid post, I really like this salad dressing. If you are looking for some alternative, please check my recipe for tahini miso dressing which is healthy and yummy.

How To Make Juiciest Poached Chicken Breast + Bonus: Japanese-style chicken salad.

Recipe by Leno RegushCourse: Appetizers, Japanese Food, SaladsCuisine: JapaneseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

2

hours 

Cooking timeminutes

Japanese-style green salad with avocado, soft boiled egg and juicy poached chicken.

Ingredients

• 2 free-range skinless chicken breasts

• 1 avocado, peeled, sliced

• 1 head lettuce, washed, drained

• 3 small tomatoes, halved

• 2 cups steamed broccoli florets

• 1 soft boiled egg

• Kewpie roasted sesame dressing (see the picture above) or homemade tahini miso dressing

Directions

• Fill a large 5L soup pot with a water and bring to a boil. Add chicken breasts and bring to a boil again. Turn off the heat. Close the pot with a tight fitting lid. Left the pot on the stove until it’s chilled, for few hours.
• Slice the chicken using a sharp knife. Arrange on a salad plate. Add the lettuce leaves, slices of avocado, tomatoes, broccoli and soft boiled egg. Drizzle with a dressing and serve. Enjoy!