Yum-Woon-Sen Goong /Thai Spicy Glass Noodle Salad with Shrimp

In Thailand, we call any kinds of salad “yum.” And the word says it all…yummmm! (^o^)

This spicy salad is a perfect dish for the hot summer and it can be made with other kinds of meats or seafood whatever you prefer and even the leftover rotisserie chicken or tofu or anything that’s tasty and healthy! In the past years living in L.A, I’ve made yum-woon-sen quite often whenever I feel a little homesick and it helps me feel much better after having it.

This spicy glass noodle salad has reminded me of my younger years when I was in my 20s and still living in Thailand. We (girls) referred to this “yum” dish as a “trying to stay in shape” food! We would eat this “yum” for a week whenever we felt like there were 5 lbs of weights attached to our bodies and it was hardly to move around. I guessed it worked because by the end of the week after had been eating this spicy “yum,” we totally felt a lot better and lighter – I guessed we perspired a lot from the spiciness of “yum,” plus the hot humid weather of Thailand helped speedy up the process! Hmmm…that makes sense…what do you think?


Anyway, why wait? Let’s make some yummy-licious!

What you need:

1 2-oz vermicelli or glass noodle
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup thinly sliced celery
1 large tomato chopped
1-2 cups cooked shrimp
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp fresh squeeze lime juice
2 tbsp sugar
1-2 tbsp Asian chili garlic sauce or dried chili flakes
1 big clove garlic
A handful of cilantro leaves + for garnish
1 small Thai chili and lettuce – optional
How to:

- in a medium bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, garlic, chili garlic sauce and chopped cilantro leaves until the sugar is dissolved, set it aside to blend flavors. The dressing should be the balance combination of salty, sweet, tart, and spicy, however, you can adjust it to your own preferred taste

- Soak the noodles in water to soften it for about 5 minutes, and drain

- Bring 2-3 cups of water to boil, add the soften noodles into the hot boiling water(turn off the heat) and let it stand for about 10-12 seconds and drain immediately, no rinse! The noodle will become sticky but it’s okay, then using a fork to hold them up and cut the long noodle to shorten them for a few times so they can be working on easier when combine them with the dressing. But long noodle can be fun, too!

- In a large bowl, add noodles, chopped celery, tomato, red onion, shredded carrot, and cooked shrimp - Pour the dressing over and mix well. Let the “yum” stand to mingle the flavors for about 3 minutes before serving on chopped lettuce/cup with a sprinkle of toasted peanuts and/or more Thai chili sliced if you like!

Enjoy!

^__^