Thai Glass Noodle Salad with Shrimp Recipe
A light, springy salad with glass noodles and shrimp is a classic of Thai salad stalls – lots of herbs, crunchy vegetables, and a tangy-salty dressing. Perfect for a summer lunch or dinner, as it’s filling but doesn’t weigh you down.
Yum woon sen is a popular Thai “yum”-style salad where what matters most is the balance of sour, salty, and spicy flavors and the contrast between slippery noodles and crunchy add-ins, rather than the sheer number of ingredients.
This salad is the essence of Thai “yum” street food – light, springy glass noodles, juicy shrimp, and a very bold, sour-salty dressing with a chili kick. Thanks to the herbs and crunchy vegetables, the dish is fresh, spicy, and full of umami at the same time. It’s a great example of how Thai cooking plays with textures: slippery noodles, bouncy shrimp, and crisp toppings.
Why this version works
- The noodles are soaked, not boiled, so they stay pleasantly springy instead of rubbery.
- Making the dressing separately lets you easily fine-tune the sour, salty, and spicy balance.
- Adding the herbs at the end keeps them fresh and intensely aromatic.
- Briefly searing the shrimp keeps the centers juicy instead of rubbery.
Chef's tips
If the noodles stick together after draining, rinse them once more under cold water and separate the strands with your hands until they’re slippery but loose. When I make the salad ahead of time, I keep some of the dressing aside and add it just before serving so the noodles don’t fall apart. If you’re worried about the onion being too sharp, soak it in cold water for 5 minutes and drain well – it will be milder but still crunchy.
How to serve
Serve in a large bowl in the middle of the table, with an extra small bowl of chopped chili and lime wedges so everyone can adjust the seasoning. It works well as a light hot-weather lunch or as part of a summer spread alongside grilled vegetables, chicken satay, and simple coconut rice.
Watch out for
- Don’t soak the noodles for too long – if they get mushy, they’ll tear and turn the salad into a sticky mass.
- Shrimp that are too hot when added to the bowl will wilt the herbs and soften the vegetables.
- It’s easy to oversalt the dressing with fish sauce alone, so always taste it before adding it to the salad.
Substitutions
- You can replace the shrimp with thinly sliced, quickly stir-fried chicken.
- Instead of mung bean glass noodles, use thin rice vermicelli.
- If you don’t use fish sauce, mix light soy sauce with lime juice and a pinch of salt.
- You can swap coriander for flat-leaf parsley, though the flavor will be less distinctly Thai.
Ingredients
- glass noodles (mung bean vermicelli) - 120 g
- peeled shrimp - 250 g
- carrot - 1 piece
- fresh cucumber - 0.5 piece
- cherry tomatoes - 120 g
- onion czerwona mała - 0.5 piece
- fresh coriander - 1 handful
- fresh mint - 1 handful
- fish sauce rybny - 3 tablespoon
- lime juice - 3 tablespoon
- sugar trzcinowy - 1.5 tablespoon
- chili pepper - 1 piece
- oil roślinny - 1 tablespoon
Preparation
- Pour boiling water over the glass noodles in a bowl and leave for 5–7 minutes, until they soften, turn transparent, and feel springy between your fingers. Drain, rinse with cold water, and let them drain very well; if needed, cut them into shorter strands with scissors.
- Peel the carrot and cut it into thin matchsticks or grate on a coarse grater. Slice the cucumber into thin half-moons. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Slice the onion into very thin slivers so the flavor stays delicate.
- Rinse the coriander and mint, dry thoroughly in a clean towel or salad spinner, then roughly chop or tear. Keep the leaves in noticeable pieces so you can taste their aroma in every bite.
- In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, and finely chopped chili. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the dressing is intensely sour-salty with a hint of sweetness; if it’s too hot, add a little more sugar.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the shrimp and fry for 2–3 minutes on each side, until they turn pink and opaque. When they start curling into tight circles, take them off the heat – that’s the sign they’re on the verge of overcooking.
- Transfer the shrimp to a small bowl and let them cool for a few minutes; add them to the salad while still warm but not hot, so they don’t blanch the herbs or soften the vegetables too much.
- In a large bowl, combine the glass noodles, carrot, cucumber, onion, and tomatoes. Loosen the noodles with your fingers or tongs so the strands separate and the vegetables are evenly distributed instead of forming one compact clump.
- Add the shrimp and chopped herbs. Pour the dressing over and toss gently but thoroughly with your hands or tongs until the noodles are evenly coated and only a thin layer of dressing remains at the bottom of the bowl.
- Let the salad rest for 5–10 minutes at room temperature so the noodles can absorb a bit of the dressing and the flavors meld. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature with extra chili and lime wedges.
Storage
No storage information available for this dish.
When I know I’ll be exhausted after a workout, I prep the vegetables and mix the dressing in advance – when I get back, I just soak the noodles and quickly fry the shrimp.
