Salad Chicken Recipe

Salad Chicken is lightly seasoned, boiled or steamed chicken breast that has become a popular dish in Japan for people who are health-conscious and on certain diets.  This protein-packed, low calorie chicken can be added to not only salads but also various other dishes.

There has always been steamed chicken used in different kinds of dishes in Japan, but this Salad Chicken became explosively popular there because a nationwide convenience store chain developed and started selling everywhere.  Before Salad Chicken, chicken breast was not a preferred part of chicken at home because of the dryness of the meat, and it is almost always cooked with its skin to reduce the problem.  When low carb diets (often called low insulin diets there) became mainstream, many people were trying them, as well as the older style low fat diets, and Salad Chicken, even though it is merely a boiled or steamed chicken in a package, became an “it” item as if it were some kind of weight reducing pills.  Also, just like a lot of young and single people are interested in new diets, Salad Chicken is a very convenient food for single people and single person households.  Even if they don’t want to cook, they can get a decent meal just by opening a package, especially if added to salad like the name suggests.  Another reason for its popularity is that it simply tastes good.  The stores make various types, adding different flavorings to the chicken, and, most importantly, the chicken is not dry.  When you don’t know how to cook chicken breast well, you could easily end up with dried fibers.  If you can solve the problem with 200 yen (about $2) a couple of blocks from your home, you probably opt for that instead of investing your time and money to cook yourself.

For people who are not so lucky to be living a couple of blocks from Japanese convenience stores – like us – we just have to make it at home.  And don’t worry, it is not hard at all.  Actually, the ingredients and steps are quite simple.  The chicken needs to be brined and that takes some time, but if you prepare several chicken breast at once and freeze, you can enjoy your own moist Salad Chicken any time you want.  Besides, as always, homemade chicken doesn’t have any unwanted additives in your food.

Whether you are on a special diet or not, Salad Chicken is always a convenient food but doesn’t have to come from a convenience store.  Add the chicken to your favorite salad or just eat as is for a simple taste of Japanese convenience store culture.

Print Recipe

3.67 from 3 votes

Salad Chicken Recipe

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: chicken

Servings: 2

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Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 cups water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar

Instructions

• Poke chicken with a folk.
• Put water, salt and sugar in a large bowl, and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Submerge chicken in the liquid. Refrigerate for 4-5 hours or overnight (brining).
• Take the chicken out from the liquid, pat dry, and wrap with plastic a couple of times. Put the wrapped chicken in freezer bags, removing as much air from bags as possible.
• Boil water in a big pot, and cook chicken in boiling water for 3 minutes. Cover with a lid and turn off the heat. Let stand for 30-40 minutes.
• Cool completely.

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