Thai glass noodle salad (yum woon sen)
Shrimps, sausage meat, glass noodles, shallots, tomatoes, Thai basil and cilantro are tossed in a dressing made with galangal, kaffir lime and its leaves, lemongrass, cilantro roots, chilies and palm sugar.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 120 grams glass noodles (about 4 oz.)
Dressing
- 1 large stalk lemongrass (or two small stalks) white part only with the fibrous outer layers peeled off and discarded
- 2 Thai chilies (we used one red and one green)
- 2 half-inch pieces kaffir lime zest
- 1 pair kaffir lime leaves ribs removed and discarded
- 3 slices galangal if using dried, pre-soak in hot water until softened
- 2 bunches cilantro roots
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar
- ¼ cup lime juice (kaffir limes were used here)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
Salad
- 150 grams sausages (about 5.3 oz.)
- 200 grams shelled and deveined shrimps (about 10.5 oz.)
- 2 shallots peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoes halved and cut into thin wedges
- 1 generous handful Thai basil
- 1 handful cilantro stems and leaves, torn into smaller pieces
Garnish
- ¼ cup roasted salted peanuts (optional) roughly chopped
Instructions
- Place the glass noodles in a bowl and pour in room temperature water to cover the noodles completely. Leave to soak for about 20 minutes.
Make the dressing
- While the noodles soak, place the lemongrass, chilies, kaffir lime zest and leaves, galangal, cilantro roots and palm sugar in a mortar.
- Use a pestle to grind them as finely as you can.
- Pour in the lime juice and fish sauce, and mix thoroughly.
- Leave the dressing to steep.
Cook the sausage meat and shrimps
- Discard the casings of the sausages and crumble the meat into a frying pan.
- Cook the sausage meat until lightly browned.
- Add the shrimps and cook, tossing often, until both sausage meat and shrimps are cooked through.
Cook the glass noodles
- In a pot boil about four cups of water.
- Drain the noodles and dump into the boiling water. Cook for two minutes.
- Drain the noodles and dump into a mixing bowl.
Toss the salad
- Strain the dressing.
- Add the sausage meat and shrimps to the noodles.
- Pour in half of the dressing and toss thoroughly.
- Add the sliced shallots and tomatoes.
- Pour in the rest of the dressing and toss.
- Add the Thai basil and cilantro, and toss again.
- Transfer the salad into a serving bowl.
- Sprinkle with more chili slices, if you want added heat.
- Ladle into bowls and, optionally, sprinkle in salted peanuts before serving.
