Ming's Restaurant Shredded Chicken Salad

From Ming's Restaurant, Palo Alto, CA.

Prep time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

One 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon white wine or water
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 teaspoon minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder or ground cinnamon
6 cups finely shredded iceberg lettuce
2 bunches cilantro
3 green onions
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1 cup salted cashews, chopped, divided use
Salt and pepper
2 ounces rice noodles (also called cellophane noodles)
Vegetable oil

Dressing:

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions:

Split chicken in half. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce,
oil, white wine or water, garlic, ginger and Chinese 5-spice
or cinnamon. Rub both sides of chicken with the spice rub.

Arrange chicken, skin side up, and bake at 400 degrees until
tender and well-browned, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool,
then strip chicken from bones. Shred chicken and crispy
skin.

In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, lettuce, cilantro
and green onion. Add sesame seeds and 3/4 cup of the
cashews. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a skillet. Add dry
noodles, in small batches, to the oil and fry until they
puff (a few seconds). Set aside on a paper towel to drain.

Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Toss chicken
mixture with dressing and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of
cashews and puffed noodles on top.

Per serving based on 6 servings: 499 cal.; 39 g pro.; 16 g
carb.; 26 g fat (7 sat., 13 monounsat., 6 polyunsat.); 109
mg chol.; 797 mg sod.; 2 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 52 percent
calories from fat.

Source: Sacramento Bee newspaper, Mar 9, 2011.