I will start out by saying that this is one of the best salads I have ever eaten in my entire life.  And I have had a lot of good salads.  It was like “pour the entire thing into a giant mixing bowl and eat until you feel sick” good.

Lets just say I have another recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad on this site, and I’m going to go delete it, because next to this one, that one actually sounds gross.  Gross.  

The crispy cabbage and carrots and the chicken are great.  The cilantro, red onions, and scallions are all well and good.  You’ll eat it and you’ll feel like that scene where she drinks the pink lemonade in Bridesmaids.  “Oh yeah.  That’s good.  That is fresh.” 

But what really amps up this salad are two things.  The amazing Chinese mustard and honey vinaigrette and the crispy wonton strips.  I have to tell you, I am not one for crispy wonton strips in general, at restaurants or on store bought salads.  But when you make them homemade… Oh my God.  And they seriously take two minutes.

This recipe is super easy because it calls for a rotisserie chicken.  You could use bagged cole-slaw instead of making your own (confession: I did.)  I did add a tablespoon for brown sugar to the dressing for a little more sweetness.  Which is why I don’t look like Chrissy Teigen.  Anyway.

I posted a picture to my Instagram/twitter account and Chrissy Teigen liked it! How cool is that?  Made my day.

Go out and buy her cookbook, Cravings. Cravings.  My brother and sister-in-law gave it to me for my birthday, and it is my favorite cookbook EVER.  Every single thing in it looks amazing and uses real, regular ingredients that you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for and probably already have on hand.  She’s so hilarious and real on both twitter and in her cookbook, you’ll feel like you’re reading a recipe from a friend.

Recipe slightly adapted from Chrissy Teigen, Cravings

Ingredients:

For the crispy wontons:
6 (4 inch) wonton wrappers
vegetable oil for frying (I used avocado oil)
kosher salt

For the dressing:
1/3 cup peanut oil or vegetable oil (I used avocado oil)
1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Chinese hot mustard
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
*I added 1 tablespoon brown sugar to this

For the salad:
1/2 rotisserie chicken
6 cups shredded cabbage (Chrissy’s recipe calls for Napa cabbage, I used a bag of pre-shredded cole-slaw mix)
1 cup shredded red cabbage (again, I just added an extra cup of cole-slaw mix)
1 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1 carrot, cut into julienne strips
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
4 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions:

Make the crispy wontons:
Stack the wonton wrappers on top of each other. Cut the wrappers into strips 1/2 inch wide and 4 inches long.

In a medium saucepan, heat 3 inches of oil over medium-high heat until one of the strips puffs up and sizzles as soon as it hits the oil.  Working in batches, drop a handful of the wonton strips at a time into the oil and fry until puffed and golden, about 30 seconds.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried strips to paper towels and sprinkle generously with salt.  Repeat until done.

Make the dressing:
Throw everything into the blender and blend until smooth.  You definitely need a blender for this to make it all smooth and creamy.

Make the salad:
Remove the skin from the chicken and discard.  Using your hands, shred the meat into very thin pieces that you would want to eat in a salad.  You will want 3 cups of chicken in the end.

Place the meat in a bowl with the cabbage, cilantro, red onion, and scallions.  Pour in 1/2 cup of the dressing, toss to coat, and top with the wontons.  Serve the remaining dressing on the side for salad touch-ups.