Low Carb Thai Basil Chicken Salad

This low carb Thai basil chicken salad is how I enjoy Thai food at home these days, replacing the rice (carbs) with lots of shredded cabbage. When I eat out at a Thai restaurant, I totally enjoyed the rice & I did not worry one bit about the carbs. But when I am at home, I felt I had a lot of freedom to customise a dish to my needs, so I will think of ways of making a version of the “real thing” sans the carbs. This dish had also become one of my izakaya-at-home dishes to go with beer or sake. I reckoned since an alcoholic drink is already calorie-laden, eating a lower carb dish will lessen the damage :p

See Also:

• Low Carb Tom Yum Chicken Noodles
• Low Carb Tom Yum Shrimp Shirataki Noodles
• Thai Crispy Fried Egg (VIDEO)
• Thai Basil Chicken (VIDEO)

I choose shredded cabbage because at least the colour resembles rice. If I put a bed of salad greens, I am still kind of reminded that I am on a diet (lol). Another great replacement for faux carbs for this plate will be cauliflower rice, but that will involve cooking and meal prep.

INGREDIENTS (Low Carb Thai Basil Chicken Salad)

Ready-to-Eat Shredded Cabbage or Coleslaw Mix

The Don Don Donki outlet near my work place started selling shredded cabbage. Since then I have been buying this ready-to-eat cabbage repeatedly for my home salads. You can buy similar shredded cabbage or “coleslaw mix” from the supermarkets salad section.

Alternatively, shred cabbage thinly with a cabbage peeler (pictured above; I got this from Daiso), a mandolin or by knife.

Chicken & Aromatics

The main ingredients for the basil chicken – Thai holy basil leaves, minced chicken, cut red chilli, long beans or french beans, minced garlic & thinly sliced onion.

Sauces

The sauce for this dish made with oyster sauce, fish sauce, soy sauces, water and brown sugar. You also need cornstarch slurry.

STEP-BY-STEP (Low Carb Thai Basil Chicken Salad)

In a wok or a small pan, cook aromatics, French beans and minced chicken.

When the chicken is cooked on the surface, pour in the sauce and let it bubble and thicken a little. Then stir in the cornstarch slurry (pictured above) to further thicken the sauce.

When the dish is done, take it off the heat and stir in the holy basil leaves until they are wilted.

Place shredded cabbage (or any preferred salad mix) on one half of a large plate. Place the basil chicken on the other half of the plate. I don’t recommend putting the basil chicken directly on a bed of salad, as I had tried that before and salad became too soggy. You also do not need to worry about the lack of salad dressing, as the basil chicken sauce will flavour the salad nicely! A crispy fried egg will also enhance this dish greatly too (I forgot to make it). Enjoy!

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Low Carb Thai Basil Chicken Salad Recipe

In this recipe, I use ready-to-eat shredded cabbage (such as coleslaw mix) as a short-cut. If you shred cabbage by yourself (with a cabbage peeler, mandolin or by knife), it will add another 10-15 minutes to the recipe time.

Check out the ingredients and step-by-step photos on the previous page.

Serves: 1

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 + 1 tsp cooking oil divided
• 1/4 thinly sliced onion
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 3 chilli padi sliced thinly; to taste
• 2 french beans (or 1 long bean) cut to 2-cm length
• 75g minced chicken (or pork/turkey)
• cornstarch slurry 2 tsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water
• 5g Thai holy basil leaves
• a generous serving shredded cabbage/coleslaw mix (or any salad mix; about 70-100g)

Sauce (A)

• 50ml water
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp (brown) sugar
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 dashes white pepper powder

Directions:

1. Cook aromatics. Heat 1 tsp oil in a wokpan. Stir fry onions, garlic and chilli until aromatic. Push them to the side of the pan.
2. Add minced chicken and the remaining oil. Stir fry chicken until half cooked on surface, while constantly breaking the meat to smaller bits with a spatula. Add French beans and stir fry until chicken is totally cooked on surface.
3. Make sauce. Stir fry everything together and add sauce (A). Let the sauce bubble briefly, then thicken with cornstarch slurry.
4. Add holy basil and turn off the stove. Stir through while the sauce is bubbly hot, until the basil is just withered.
5. Assemble the salad. Place the shredded cabbage on one half of a large serving plate. Place the basil chicken on the other half of the plate. Garnish as desired (such as cucumber slices, tomato, chopped spring onions or a Thai-style crispy fried egg).

Cooking Note(s):

1. For best results, I do not recommend putting the cooked basil chicken directly on the shredded cabbage as it will make the salad too soggy.
2. You can replace the shredded cabbage with cauliflower rice as another faux carb choice.

Ingredients Used: cabbage • chicken • fish sauce • french bean • holy basil • mince meat • onion • oyster sauce • soy sauce (dark) • sugar