Bright and light with clean flavours, this chicken noodle salad balances sweet chilli sauce with the tang of lime for a vibrant weeknight bowl. For less heat, simply dial back the amount of sweet chilli or serve it on the side.
Place a medium saucepan of water over high heat and bring to the boil. Add chicken, reduce heat to low, and cook for 12–15 minutes or until just cooked through. Allow to cool in the saucepan for 10 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, continue with step 2.
Place noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for 3 minutes to soften. Drain well and rinse under cold water. Set aside in a colander.
Thinly slice apple and cut into matchsticks. Thinly slice cabbage. Pick Thai basil leaves from their stems.
Once cooled, shred chicken using your fingers or two forks. Finely zest and juice lime. Place zest and ½ the juice in a bowl with sweet chilli sauce and chicken and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.
Place noodles, apple, cabbage, basil, remaining lime juice, fish sauce and sesame oil in a bowl and toss to combine.
Divide salad between plates. Top with chicken and crispy shallots to serve.