Chicken and shaved asparagus salad

Serves 4

2-4 chicken thighs
Chicken stock, to cover
6 stems of asparagus, cooked in boiling salted water for a minute and refreshed under cold water
100g Asian salad leaves and herbs such as Thai basil, coriander, mizuna, mustard leaf, mint etc
a cucumber
3 spring onions, finely shredded on the angle

For the dressing

Juice of 1 kaffir or ordinary lime
1tbsp rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
4tbsp ground nut oil
tbsp finely chopped fresh lemon grass
tbsp finely chopped galangal or root ginger
1tsp sugar
mild red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the chicken thighs in a pan and cover with stock, season, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 30 minutes; leave to cool in the liquid unless you are in a hurry.

Slice the asparagus thinly on the slant. Cut the cucumber into 4cm lengths, cut into thin slices around the seeds in the centre and shred the slices into matchstick-like pieces; discard the seeds.

Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred.

To make the dressing, mix all the ingredients together and season. Mix all the other ingredients together and mix with the dressing. Arrange on plates and serve immediately.