I first made this Thai Glass Noodle Salad (or also known as yum woon sen in Thai) a few months back and I was so blown away by how delicious it was. The salad dressing is made with just three ingredients – lime juice, fish sauce and Thai sweet chilli, which is readily and greedily absorbed by the glass noodles. Sour, salty, sweet and a little bit spicy, each bite is an explosion of flavours!
What are Glass Noodles?
Glass noodles, also known as cellophane noodles or mung bean noodles, are translucent and made from mung bean starch. They are usually found dried (so far I’ve never seen fresh glass noodles before) in small bundles. The noodles are thin, long and slippery when cooked and readily absorb any flavours added to them. Some websites suggest cooking them in boiling water for a few minutes but I find that simply soaking them in boiling water does the trick as well. And I can prepare my other ingredients instead of standing over the stove watching over the glass noodles, win-win!
Use Whatever You Like
My version of glass noodle salad is not the like those traditional ones because I will just throw whatever I like into this salad. When I remake this dish for blogging purposes, I went all out and used a whole lot of ingredients to go with the glass noodles, which may seemed really overwhelming… oops!
To make this glass noodle salad, all you need are glass noodle and the salad dressing. I also highly recommend adding fresh coriander, fresh spring onion and toasted peanuts because just a little bit of them will add tremendous amounts of flavour. And then the rest is up to you! For the vegetables, you can choose any kind of salad leaves, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, bean sprouts, carrots, corn etc. Some will need to be cooked (like mushrooms and bean sprouts) while some don’t have to be. For the meat, chicken, pork, or even prawns can be added to the salad. If you are vegetarian, just leave the meat out.
You can replace the Thai sweet chilli sauce with a mix of sugar and sriracha, though the Thai sweet chilli sauce makes life a bit more convenient (and they make awesome dips for fries, spring rolls etc!)
Serving at Room Temperature or Chilled
Though glass noodle salad can be served either at room temperature or chilled, I usually prefer them at room temperature (or immediately after they are prepared) because I’m not a fan of cold food. (Unless you are referring to desserts – that’s a totally different story haha.) You can also make this salad ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator until serving time.
And here’s how to make it!
Step-by-step Photos | |
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| 1) Place glass noodles in a laege bowl and pour in boiling hot water. Stir the glass noodles with a pair of chopsticks / tongs to ensure they are submerged in the hot water. When the glass noodles have softened, drain them thoroughly. | 2) Chop up the romaine lettuce, tomato and cucumber and place them in a mixing bowl (or large serving bowl). |
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| 3) Whisk eggs and light soy sauce together. Cook the egg into an omelette and slice into thin slices. | 4) Peel and thinly slice 1/4 onion; dice up a large portobello mushroom; and slice up one chicken breast. |
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| 5) Cook the onion, mushroom and chicken until the vegetables have softened and the chicken is no longer pink. Add in the beansprouts and heat through to get rid of the raw beansprout taste. | 6) Whisk fish sauce, Thai sweet chilli sauce and lime juice together. |
Thai Glass Noodle Salad (Yum Woon Sen ยำวุ้นเส้น)
INGREDIENTS
Noodles
- 60 grams glass noodles
To Chop
- 1/2 romaine lettuce
- 1 to mato
- 1 cucumber
To Cook
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oil, divided
- 1/4 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 large portobello mushroom, or a handful of small fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 chicken breast, sliced
- 1 handful bean sprouts
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons Thai sweet chilli sauce, see Naggy note
- 3 tablespoons lime juice, preferable freshly squeezed
Garnish
- Toasted peanuts, chopped
- Fresh coriander and spring onion, finely chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
Noodles
- Place glass noodles in a laege bowl and pour in boiling hot water. Stir the glass noodles with a pair of chopsticks / tongs to ensure they are submerged in the hot water. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
To Chop
- Chop up the romaine lettuce, tomato and cucumber and place them in a mixing bowl (or large serving bowl).
To Cook
- Whisk eggs and light soy sauce together. Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat and add in 1 tablespoon oil. Add in the egg and cook until the egg has set. Remove the egg from the frying pan onto a chopping board. Let the egg cool down slightly. Slice thinly and transfer the egg slices into the mixing bowl with the chopped vegetables.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the same frying pan over medium heat. Add in onion and cook until onion has softened. Add in the sliced mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have softened. Add in the sliced chicken breast and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in colour. Stir in the bean sprouts and heat through to get rid of the raw bean sprout taste.
- Remove the frying pan from heat and let the chicken mixture cool slightly before transferring them into the mixing bowl with the egg and chopped vegetables.
Sauce
- Whisk fish sauce, Thai sweet chilli sauce and lime juice together.
Serve
- Drain the noodles thoroughly. Add them into the mixing bowl with the meat, egg and chopped vegetables. Add in the sauce and toss them together. Serve at room temperature or chill the salad until serving time.
- Garnish with toasted peanuts, chopped coriander and spring onion before serving.
Raymund says
This recipe post makes me feel like its summer here eventhough it is cold. Will keep this recipe for use on warmer months.
ChgoJohn says
This would make such a great meal, Jasline. Love how simple the dressing is and yet how flavorful it must be. I need to find some cellophane noodles. I’d love to have this one day this week. Thanks,. Jasline.
canelakitchen says
so beautiful salad Jasline !!
Nagi@RecipeTinEats says
Love the colors of your noodle salad 😀 Glass noodles are very interesting to me. I like how it easily attaches to flavours. Your version looks tasty!
Monica says
Love all the layers of textures and flavors built into this salad! It looks so inviting and delicious, really perfect for this very hot July here!
Angie says
It looks so colourful and tasty!