Yum Woonsen – Thai Spicy Glass Noodle Salad Recipe

Of all the spicy salads in Thai cuisine (and there are many) yam woonsen is probably the most common – and it’s definitely one of the best.

Here is a recipe for a very good, basic rendition of yam woonsen. This dish is quite forgiving and open to personal interpretation, so feel free to adapt this recipe to suit your own tastebuds and pantry!

This recipe calls for enough chilies to make a medium spicy dish – which may be too much for those unaccustomed to Thai style chili fire. If this is a concern, you can easily add less – remember…you can always add more chili at the table, but you can’t very well take it out!

Yum Woonsen – Thai spicy Glass Noodle Salad

• 80 grams (3 ounces) of uncooked glass noodles
  
• 100 grams (1/2 cup) of ground pork
• 80 grams of smallish shrimp
• 2 plum tomatoes
• ¾ cup of thinly sliced onion
• 1 Tbls of finely chopped Thai bird chilies (this will be medium-high spicy – use less chili if you don’t like the heat!)
• ½ tsp of salt
• 1 and ½ Tbls of sugar
• ¼ cup of fish sauce
• 2 Tbls of lime juice
• 2 tsps of MSG (this can be omitted if desired – but you may need to add a little more fish sauce to compensate.)
• ¼ cup of fresh mint leaves

Instructions

• Soak the glass noodles in cold water until they have softened slightly – about 10 to 15 minutes. Once softened, cut the noodles into 4 inch strips.
• In a frying pan, bring a little water to a boil, and once boiling, toss in the soaked noodles and cook until softened – about 1 minute.
• Drain the noodles and reserve.
• Add a couple of spoonfuls of water to the frying pan and add the pork and shrimp to the pan. Cook over high until the meat and shrimp are cooked through, about 2 or 3 minutes. You do not need any oil for this, as the meat is basically steaming.
• In a mixing bowl, mix the noodles, the cooked pork and shrimp and all remaining ingredients except for the mint leaves. Taste for seasoning and add more lime, sugar, fish sauce or chili as desired.
• Arrange on a serving plate and top with fresh mint leaves. Sliced cucumbers are traditional as a garnish on the side. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.