Thai chicken glass noodle salad, or Yum Woon Sen, is a delicious recipe made with thin glass noodles, fresh vegetables, herbs, lime juice, fish sauce, ground pork, and poached chicken. Not only is this recipe easy to make, but it is also light and healthy, making it one of the best Thai summer salads out there.
You may or may not be familiar with glass noodles, If not, you are in for a special treat because these rice noodles are one of the easiest ingredients to use in your cooking.
What are Glass Noodles?
Glass noodles are thin clear noodles made from the starchy parts of ingredients (tapioca, potatoes, mung bean) and mixed with water to form the translucent look of the noodles. Glass noodles usually come in a dried packet and the noodles are dried and hard and need soaking in warm water to loosen up the small strands before cooking.
Are Glass Noodles Healthy?
Here is some really good news for my gluten-sensitive readers: glass noodles are gluten-free! The noodles are also sugar-free and fat-free, making them one of the healthier noodles for use in many recipes.
What does Yum Woon Sen mean?
This Thai noodle salad is called Yum Woon Sen in Thai. The Thai word for “glass noodle” is “Woon Sen,” while “Yum” means “mixed together” (the ingredients), like in a salad. The very thin noodles make this recipe a light but refreshing salad.
Where can I find Thai glass noodles?
These thin rice noodles have many names, and those names are bean thread noodles, cellophane noodles, and clear noodles. You can find them easily in Asian Markets as well as in many American grocery stores in the Asian/International section. You can read more about the different types of Thai rice noodles here.
How to make Thai glass noodle salad, Yum Woon Sen
Yum Woon Sen is so easy to make--you can whip it up in 30 minutes or less. Trust me, you will want to have this recipe on your summer recipe rotations!
Yum Woon Sen Thai glass noodles salad is best served fresh. This recipe generously serves 4-6 people. It’s a great dish to have for a dinner party or potluck, and you can double up the batch very easily. It saves well as a leftover for the next meal, but I wouldn’t recommend longer than that as all the raw fresh vegetables will get soggy and brown. Some recipes call for ground peanuts as a garnish, but I normally don’t use them so I don’t call for it in my recipe. Feel free to do so though if you love all things peanuts. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Soak the glass noodles in warm water for 15-20 minutes until soft. After the noodles are soft, drain the water and then pour the chicken stock over the soft noodles for 2-4 minutes. Drain the soft noodles with a strainer, (you can save the stock for cooking if prefer). Rinse the glass noodles with cold water, then add the noodles to a large bowl for mixing later.
Poach or boil the chicken in water over medium heat in a pot for 20-30 minutes until chicken is tender. Add a dash of salt for extra flavor. Once done, slice the tender chicken into 1-2 inch pieces and set aside to cool. Save the stock water for blanching the glass noodles.
In a skillet, cook the ground pork in oil over a medium-high seat until the meat is golden brown10-12 minutes. If it gets too dry add 2-3 Tbsp water to the skillet and stir. Turn the heat off and set it aside to cool.
Soak the dried shrimp in warm water for 5 minutes, drain and pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside. Chop all the vegetables then add all the ingredients to the bowl with glass noodles in it. Add lime juice, fish sauce, and chili flakes and mix well. Add more lime juice or fish sauce as desired. That’s it! Enjoy!
Thai Glass Noodle Recipe, Yum Woon Sen
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 5 1x
Description
Thai chicken glass noodle salad, or Yum Woon Sen, is a delicious recipe made with thin glass noodles, fresh vegetables, herbs, lime juice, fish sauce, ground pork, and poached chicken. Not only is this recipe easy to make, but it is also light and healthy, making it one of the best Thai summer salads out there.
Ingredients
4.5-5 oz dried glass noodles
1 lb chicken breast, poached until very tender
4-5 cups of water (for poaching chicken)
½ lb ground pork (or chicken)
3 Tbsp dried shrimp (soak in warm water 5 minutes)
1 tsp oil (for cooking the ground pork)
½ cup shredded carrots
⅔ cup thinly sliced shallots or purple onion
½ cup cilantro chopped ½ inch size
½ cup Italian parsley chopped ½ inch size
½ cup mint leaves chopped ½ inch size
5 Tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
4 Tbsp fish sauce
1-3 Tbsp chili flakes (OPTIONAL if you prefer non-spicy)
2-3 fresh Thai chilies, seeded (remove seeds for less
spiciness) then chopped very small. OPTIONAL.
Instructions
- Poach or boil the chicken in water over medium heat in a pot for 20-30 minutes until chicken is tender. Add a dash of salt for extra flavor. Once done, slice the tender chicken in 1-2 inch pieces and set aside to cool. Save the stock water for blanching the glass noodles.
- Soak the glass noodles in warm water for 15-20 minutes until soft. After the noodles are soft, drain the water and then pour the chicken stock over the soft noodles for 2-4 minutes. Drain the soft noodles with a strainer, (you can save the stock for cooking if prefer). Rinse the glass noodles with cold water, then add the noodles to a large bowl for mixing later.
- Soak the dried shrimp in warm water for 5 minutes, drain and pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
- In a skillet, cook the ground pork in oil over medium-high seat until the meat is golden brown10-12 minutes. If it gets too dry add 2-3 Tbsp water to the skillet and stir. Turn the heat off and set aside to cool.
- Chop all the vegetables then add all the ingredients to the bowl with glass noodles in it. Add lime juice, fish sauce, and chili flakes and mix well. Add more lime juice or fish sauce as desired. That’s it! Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Category: Easy
- Method: Salad
- Cuisine: Thai
Keywords: Thai glass noodles salad. Thai Noodle salad. Yum Woon Sen. Thai glass noodles
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Rose
it was easy and beautiful - I swapped chicken breast fillets for thigh fillets and used free range pork mince. I will make it many more times for summer meals. thank you for sharing.
★★★★★