Smoked Chicken Salad with a South African Twist

Smoked Chicken is one of those versatile ingredients that can make a great sandwich, give flavor to a pasta dish, is perfect for a fritata or make a wonderful salad. As you all know by know, we are on a bit of a detox after a meat-binging-holiday. However with hubby putting in a hard days work, he feels like something a little more substantial than just lettuce leaves and a few prawns when he comes home at night. So, to add a little more oompf to his salad, I wanted to add some smoked chicken.

I have always bought my smoked chicken from a reputable supplier, but have never tried making my own. I did not have any smoked chicken in the fridge last night so I decided..."It is now or never, I'll give smoking a go!!" I also did not have any wood chips nor did I feel like making a fire, so like a true foodie, an idea started to take form in my head...... Why not use tea to smoke and why not do it in the wok???? Voila, |I set off to work. I had 3 organic chicken breasts, plump and delicious. I seasoned them well with salt and pepper and then squeezed some lemon juice over them and left it for about 30 minutes.

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts - I used with skin and bone
salt/pepper
lemon juice
2 teabags
olive oil a pinch of sugar.
salad leaves
tomatoes, sprouts, garden peas, celery, cucumber, avocado ........

Salad dressing

3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fynbos vinegar
1 tbsp tarragon mustard
1 pinch of sugar
salt/pepper

Mix the ingredients for the salad dressing and serve over the smoked chicken salad.



How to smoke chicken in a wok?

First you place a small sheet of foil in the bottom of the wok and place the contents of two teabags on the foil. Place a wire rack( if you have a round one, perfect) over the foil and the tea leaves and place the chicken on the rack. Cover the entire wok with foil ( or use the wok's lid), make sure there are no gaps for the smoke to escape. Place the wok on the stove top ( I have a gas stove, but I am sure a normal stove will also work) and smoke the chicken for about 20 minutes. When done, I drizzled some olive oil over the chicken and a pinch of sugar and then just browned the skin on a griddle pan. The result was phenomenal, I was so impressed, but now for the South African twist...

I did not use any old tea, I used Rooibos tea which is a proud South African product.

Rooibos is a kind of "fynbos" that grows only in a small part of the Western Cape ( which is where I live) near the Cederberg. Generally, they oxidize the leaves, a process that produces the distinctive reddish-brown colour of rooibos and enhances the flavour.
South Africans commonly drink rooibos with milk and sugar, but elsewhere it is usually served without. The flavour of rooibos tea is sweet (without sugar added) and slightly nutty.
Rooibos tea is extremely good for you. It is pack with anti-oxidants, has no caffeine and the tannin levels are very low. Rooibos is purported to assist with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems. Many South African mommies have used Rooibos to alleviate colic, allergies, asthma and dermatological problems with their children.
Because of the health properties of this drink, you can now go into many coffee shops in South Africa and order a red cappuccino or a red espresso., and you will be served something looking like this....

So while you go and order some lovely South African Rooibos(red bush) products, I'll go and make myself a nice cup of rooibos tea!!!!