Vietnamese Chicken Salad

David made a huge Vietnamese feast for us last week, including Beef Pho and Vietnamese spring rolls.  I offered to make one of the dishes he had lined up, so he assigned me Gà Xé Phay, Shredded Chicken Salad.  It was great (as were his dishes).  Although we had it as a side dish, this could certainly stand on its own as a main course.  Easy, too. 

 Gà Xé Phay, Shredded Chicken Salad

serves 4 as a main dish

2 fresh hot chiles (The recipe called for red chiles, thai or serrano.  I could only get green, so I used one large jalapeno.)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T. sugar
1 T. rice wine vinegar
3 T. fresh lime juice
3 T. fish sauce (The recipe called for Vietnamese sauce; I used Thai)
3 T. vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
4 cups shredded white cabbage
2 carrots, julienned
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
freshly ground black pepper
cilantro for garnish

Seed hot peppers, then mince and put in a large bowl.  Add garlic, sugar, vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce, oil, and onion.  Mix until sugar dissolves.  Add chicken, cabbage, carrots, and mint.  Season with black pepper, mix, and garnish with cilantro.

Adapted from: http://www.cooking.com/recipes-and-more/recipes/g-x-phay-shredded-chicken-salad-recipe-7946.aspx#axzz2GPZRNVCx  (And if you look at this web page, you'll see links to other Asian chicken salads--all of them look good!)