Glass noodle salad or yum woon sen is a staple dish in any Thai home, so it was one of the first things I made when I left Thailand and was homesick! Glass noodle salad has wonderfully bright flavours with lots of refreshing crunchy vegetables. It was a regular in our home, and I think it might become a regular in yours, too! It's gluten free, and you can change the pork and shrimp to other proteins of your choice.
What are glass noodles?
Thai glass noodles or woon sen are thin, clear noodles made from mung bean starch. Do not confuse these with Korean glass noodles which are made from sweet potato starch and require totally different methods for preparation.
In Thailand glass noodles are considered to be good for those trying to lose weight. Not because they're particularly healthy (it's still just all carbs!) but because glass noodles can absorb a lot more water than rice noodles or wheat noodles, so in any given serving there are less carbs. In other words, much of the noodles on your plate is just water!
Ingredients and Notes
Here are all the ingredients you'll need to make yum woon sen. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.
- Glass noodles. These are commonly available at Asian grocery stores, but sometimes they're labelled as "bean threads" or "bean vermicelli". Look for one made of 100% mung bean starch as those are the highest quality with the best texture. Cheaper ones will have other starches mixed in. Thai brands usually come in small 40 g (1.4 oz) packs, and you'll need one of these for this recipe.
- Dried shrimp. These are essentially shrimp jerky and are added for extra umami, but they are optional. You can find dried shrimp at Asian grocery stores in the refrigerated section. They come in a range of sizes, but I always go for the medium ones as they are the most versatile. Store leftovers in the fridge or freezer.
- Garlic.
- Cilantro, if you don't like cilantro, green onions and/or mint can be used instead.
- Thai chilies. You can add as many as you want! Start with 1 for medium to mild spice level; if you love it really spicy go with 3.
- Palm sugar, finely chopped, packed. Light brown sugar can be used instead. Read more about palm sugar here!
- Fish sauce. See my post for how to choose good fish sauce here.
- Fresh lime juice
- Tomato, cut into wedges. Or sub halved cherry tomatoes
- Onion, white, yellow or red will work here. Julienne them finely so they're not too strong.
- Chinese celery, or 2 inner leafy stalks of regular celery.
- Ground pork. The ground pork will give a lot of umami to the salad, so I wouldn't skip it. Though you can sub ground chicken or turkey, dark meat preferred.
- Fresh shrimp, these are optional but they're commonly added to yum woon sen. You can use more ground pork or sub other kinds of protein if you wish.
- Roasted peanuts for sprinkling on top. If allergic, cashews will also work.
How to Make Thai Glass Noodle Salad
Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.
- Soak the glass noodles in room temperature water for 7-10 minutes until soft and pliable.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing: Chop off the leafy half of the cilantro sprigs and set aside, and chop the stems-only half into small chunks and place in the mortar and pestle along with the garlic and chilies; pound into a paste. Add palm sugar and pound until dissolved. Add the fish sauce and lime juice and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Place the dried shrimp in a small heatproof bowl, cover the shrimp with room temp water then microwave on high for about 45-60 seconds. Let it sit for a few more minutes until cool enough to handle, then drain. Without a microwave, you can cover the dried shrimp with boiling water and let them sit for a few minutes.
- Place the tomato, onion and Chinese celery into a large mixing bowl. When the dried shrimp are ready, drain and pound them in a mortar and pestle until they are broken into smaller pieces. Alternatively, you can roughly chop them. Add the dried shrimp to the mixing bowl.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Drain the glass noodles and cut them with scissors into 2-3 sections to shorten them. Boil the glass noodles for 2 minutes then remove them from the water with tongs (keep the water boiling) and place into a strainer to drain excess water; set aside.
- Add fresh shrimp into the remaining liquid and cook for 30-45 seconds or until they are done. Place the shrimp into the mixing bowl.
- Pour out the cooking water, leaving just enough water to cover the bottom, and return the pot back on the stove. Once the water boils, add the pork along with 1 teaspoon of fish sauce and stir until fully cooked. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pork from the liquid and place into the mixing bowl. Then add about 1 tablespoon of the pork cooking liquid into the mixing bowl as well.
- Add noodles into the mixing bowl, pour the dressing over and quickly toss to combine.
- Roughly chop the leafy cilantro sprigs then toss them into the salad. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve immediately!
Storage and Advance Prep
Storage: Ideally, you don't want to make any more glass noodle salad than you can eat in one meal because it does not keep well. The noodles wil harden in the fridge, and you don't really want to reheat them because all the fresh veggies in the salad. The dressing will also be absorbed into the noodles overnight, making the salad very dry.
Advance prep: For reasons above, you don't want to toss the salad far ahead of serving time. You can prepare all the components in advance, but do not mix them until right before serving. The dressing can be made the day before and kept in the fridge, and the veggies can also be cut a day ahead. Leave the cooking of the noodles and protein on serving day.
Thai Glass Noodle Salad (Yum Woon Sen)
Ingredients
- 1.4 oz dry glass noodles, aka "bean threads" or "bean vermicelli" see note 1
- 1 Tablespoon dried shrimp, optional, see note 2
- 1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
- ¼ cup julienned onion
- 1 stalk Chinese celery or 2 inner small stalks and leaves of regular celery, thinly sliced
- 6 medium or large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 3.5 oz ground pork
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
The Dressing
- 10 sprigs cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1-3 Thai chilies, to taste
- 1 Tablespoon palm sugar, finely chopped, packed
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
Notes
- If possible use glass noodles that are made from 100% mung bean starch, such as Pine Brand.
- Dried shrimp can be found in the refrigerated section of Asian grocery stores. They come in a range of sizes, and I always go for one of the medium ones.
FULL VIDEO TUTORIAL
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video to ensure success. If you enjoy them, consider subscribing to the YouTube Channel to not miss an episode. Thank you!
Subscribe to my YouTube ChannelInstructions
- Soak the glass noodles in room temperature water for 7-10 minutes until soft and pliable.1.4 oz dry glass noodles
- Meanwhile, make the dressing: Chop off the leafy half of the cilantro sprigs and set aside, and chop the stems-only half into small chunks and place in the mortar and pestle along with the garlic and chilies; pound into a paste. Add palm sugar and pound until dissolved. Add 2 tablespoon of the fish sauce and lime juice and stir to dissolve the sugar.2 cloves garlic, 10 sprigs cilantro, 1-3 Thai chilies, 1 Tablespoon palm sugar, 2 Tablespoons fish sauce, 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Place the dried shrimp in a small heatproof bowl, cover the shrimp with room temp water then microwave on high for about 45-60 seconds. Let it sit for a few more minutes until cool enough to handle, then drain. Without a microwave, you can cover the dried shrimp with boiling water and let them sit for a few minutes.1 Tablespoon dried shrimp
- Place the tomato, onion and Chinese celery into a large mixing bowl. When the dried shrimp are ready, drain and pound them in a mortar and pestle until they are broken into smaller pieces. Alternatively, you can roughly chop them. Add dried shrimp to the mixing bowl.1 medium tomato, ¼ cup julienned onion, 1 stalk Chinese celery or 2 inner small stalks and leaves of regular celery
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Drain the glass noodles and cut them with scissors into 2-3 sections to shorten them. Boil the glass noodles for 2 minutes then remove them from the water with tongs (keep the water boiling) and place into a strainer to drain excess water; set aside.
- Add fresh shrimp into the remaining liquid and cook for 30-45 seconds or until they are done. Place the shrimp into the mixing bowl.6 medium or large shrimp
- Pour out the cooking water, leaving just enough water to cover the bottom, and return the pot back on the stove. Once the water boils, add the pork along with 1 teaspoon of fish sauce and stir until fully cooked. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pork from the liquid and place into the mixing bowl. Then add about 1 tablespoon of the pork cooking liquid into the mixing bowl as well.3.5 oz ground pork, 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- Add noodles into the mixing bowl, pour the dressing over and quickly toss to combine.
- Roughly chop the leafy cilantro sprigs then toss them into the salad. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve immediately!¼ cup roasted peanuts
Jennifer says
Another hit from this website. I completely omitted the meat and used vegetarian fish sauce and it was still super flavorful. At this point, I refuse to try Thai recipes from anyone else because they're just never as good.
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Thank you so much!! So glad to hear that!
John says
I was just wondering if the rice vermicelli noodles would be a good choice because there not as much.soft texture as bean. A more firm texture and a couple of more minutes cooking time.
Pailin Chongchitnant says
I will work in theory, but I don't think it's as good as glass noodles.
Ingo Ebersberger says
This came out perfectly 👍
Thank you very much for sharing the recipe and the detailed instructions. I found them extremely helpful!
Philippe says
Sawadee Kap, thank you for posting this recipe. Yam Woon Sen beeing my favorite Thaï dish ( along with Larb Moo and Pad See Ew). I think i have everything in the fridge, i'll give it a go today!! cheers from France, Ka Pun Maï Kap 🙂
Babe says
Excellent ! I usually look up recipes and use them as guidelines, tweaking them to suit our tastes. Besides the dried shrimps, I added a couple of dried scallops, another fav asian umami flavor. As for the base dressing, I used cilantro roots which is has a lot more flavor than the stems - just pound them till they are not fibrous. But these are just individual tweaks and do not detract from your good recipe. I didn't follow any measurements as I usually cook without any ... what my late mom would say and how she taught me, cooking on the fly !
Also if you discard the first hot water scald on your dried shrimps (in my case, also the dried scallops) after the first minute, you can use the second water scald to add to your dressing.
Kind regards,
Sa says
Easy to make! And super yummy!
Tan says
Really authentic recipe. Taste like the ones i had in Thailand
Stephen Chan says
I'm not a fan of celery, both Chinese and western, but this dish is one of the rare exceptions.
Nicole says
This is one of my alltime favourit dishes. I love the celery with the salad even if I usually dont enjoy raw celery. Perfect dish for a potluck, my friends and family love it as well.
LayChin Nicholson says
A delightful & very appetizing dish. So easy to put together.