Hawai'i Style Chinese Chicken Salad
This is NOT your chain restaurant Chinese chicken salad. Use my recipe for a local Hawai'i style salad that goes great with Hawaiian BBQ. This recipe can serve 4-5 people as a main dish but really is intended to be shared with 10+ people as a side at a potluck.
Ingredients
For Salad
- 2 heads romaine lettuce
- 1 rotisserie chicken
- 1 3.5oz bag wonton strips
- 4 stalks green onions
Optional Salad Toppings
- toasted sliced almonds
- canned mandarin oranges
- chopped cilantro
For Salad Dressing
- 1/4 cup Japanese soy sauce
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 cup sesame oil or substitute a neutral flavored oil
Instructions
- Preparation: remove meat from bones of rotisserie chicken and shred, discarding the skin. This step can be done a day in advance and cold chicken can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Wash and chop lettuce into bite-size pieces. Wash and slice green onions.
- Assemble: Layer lettuce, shredded chicken, wonton strips, and green onions. Add any additional toppings (e.g. cilantro, almonds, mandarin oranges) to taste.
- Make the dressing: mix soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, and sesame oil very well. Dressing can be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge until salad is ready to be serve.
- Serve: Toss the salad with the dressing and serve immediately.
Notes
- Serving size is an estimate - I've gotten romaine lettuce heads before that are gigantic and some that barely feed four people, so adjust to suit your needs. Typically for 4-5 people as a side dish, I use half the meat I get from a rotisserie chicken and one large head of lettuce. The ingredient amounts here are for a larger party.
- I don't love canned mandarin oranges, so I only included instructions for one 15oz can in the ingredients. If you've got mandarin orange lovers like my children who will pick out and eat all the oranges from the salad, you may want an extra can.