Buckwheat noodles with shredded chicken and cucumber
Warm buckwheat noodles tossed with poached chicken and crisp cucumber in a garlicky black vinegar dressing — fresh-tasting on a sticky morning without chilling the stomach.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Boil
- Easy
Why it suits you: Damp heat builds after Start of Summer, and a Phlegm-damp constitution struggles most with a heavy head, sluggish body and greasy taste in the morning. Buckwheat opens the appetite and eases the gut, chicken breast is light but nourishing and cucumber drains water; served warm rather than chilled, it's refreshing without upsetting the spleen.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 15 min- 1Put the chicken in a pan of cold water with the ginger and spring onions, bring to the boil, then poach over low heat for 10 minutes and leave covered off the heat for 5 minutes. Cool and shred (this can be done the night before).
- 2Boil the noodles for 4–5 minutes (check the packet), then rinse in warm water to wash off the surface starch and drain.
- 3Mix the garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and 2 tbsp of the poaching liquid into a dressing.
- 4Plate the noodles, top with the chicken and cucumber, pour over the dressing, sprinkle with the sesame seeds and toss.
Cautions
- Buckwheat is cooling, so go easy if your digestion runs cold or you get loose stools; avoid it if you're allergic to buckwheat.
Chef's tips
- Rinse the noodles in warm, not iced, water — a Phlegm-damp constitution does better with warm food in the morning. Keep the poaching liquid for the dressing or a soup.
The TCM view
Buckwheat is sweet and cool, opening the appetite, easing the intestines and dispersing food stagnation. Chicken is sweet and warm, warming the middle and boosting qi. Cucumber is sweet and cool, clearing heat and draining water. Garlic and ginger are pungent and warm, rousing the spleen and transforming damp to balance the coolness of the buckwheat and cucumber, and a little vinegar aids digestion. Warm and cool complement each other — good for Phlegm-damp.
