Spicy Glass Noodle Salad (Yum Woon Sen)
Slippery mung bean noodles tossed with juicy shrimp, ground pork, lime, chilies and fresh herbs in a punchy sweet-sour-salty dressing. One of Thailand's favourite cold-season salads, best eaten the moment it's tossed.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Soak the noodles
Put the dried glass noodles in a large bowl and cover with warm (not boiling) water. Let them soak until soft and pliable but still a little firm in the centre, then drain well and snip into shorter lengths with scissors so they're easy to eat.
- 100 g glass noodles
✅ Done when: the noodles bend easily without snapping but still have a slight bite
Poach the pork
Bring the water to a boil in a pot. Drop in the ground pork in small pieces, breaking it up with a spoon so it cooks evenly, and simmer until no longer pink in the middle. Lift out with a slotted spoon and set aside, keeping the pot of water simmering.
- 1.5 litres water
- 150 g ground pork
✅ Done when: the pork is fully opaque with no raw pink left
Poach the shrimp
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Make the dressing
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Toss everything together
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Finish and serve
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Soak the noodles
Put the dried glass noodles in a large bowl and cover with warm (not boiling) water. Let them soak until soft and pliable but still a little firm in the centre, then drain well and snip into shorter lengths with scissors so they're easy to eat.
- 100 g glass noodles
✅ Done when: the noodles bend easily without snapping but still have a slight bite
Poach the pork
Bring the water to a boil in a pot. Drop in the ground pork in small pieces, breaking it up with a spoon so it cooks evenly, and simmer until no longer pink in the middle. Lift out with a slotted spoon and set aside, keeping the pot of water simmering.
- 1.5 litres water
- 150 g ground pork
✅ Done when: the pork is fully opaque with no raw pink left
Poach the shrimp
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Make the dressing
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Toss everything together
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Finish and serve
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The Story Behind the Dish
Yum woon sen belongs to the big family of Thai yum salads, built not on leafy greens but on the hot-sour-salty-sweet dressing that defines so much of Thai cooking. Mung bean noodles, prized for staying slippery and never turning mushy, were an easy match for this style of dressing because they soak it up without falling apart.
The salad is a familiar sight at family tables and at simple noodle and seafood shops alike, often served alongside grilled meats or sticky rice as part of a shared meal rather than eaten alone.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It delivers everything Thai food is loved for in one bowl: sour lime, salty fish sauce, sugar, chili heat and fresh herbs, all balanced over noodles that carry the flavour in every slippery strand.
💡 Fun Fact
The noodles are often called 'glass noodles' in English because they turn almost see-through once soaked, a texture that comes purely from mung bean starch with no wheat at all.
Thailand, nationwide
13.76°N, 100.50°E
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