Skip to content
LoginRegister
WhatToEat.Today
Recipes

All recipes

Vegetarian, or something you can't eat? Set your diet once and we'll hide recipes that don't fit.

16 recipes

Yam khai dao (fried egg salad)

Late-night aharn tam sang (cooked-to-order) shops in Bangkok make this in minutes for students and taxi drivers: eggs fried hard in hot oil until the whites blister and lace at the edges, then cut up and tossed with onion, Chinese celery, tomato and chilli in a tart dressing. The runny yolks melt into the dressing, so it is rich and sour at once; eat it with plain jasmine rice. Restaurants use fish sauce, but light soy (tamari here) keeps it vegetarian. Chef's tip: the oil must be really hot before the eggs go in; eggs fried gently in cool oil stay pale and rubbery and never get the crunchy frill that makes this salad.

18 minThaiSaladsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yam tua plu (wing bean salad)

Wing beans grow on fences in back gardens all over central Thailand, and their frilly, four-edged slices make one of the most loved yam on a family table, eaten alongside a curry and rice at dinner. The beans are blanched for seconds so they stay crunchy and grassy, then coated in coconut cream sharpened with lime and nam prik pao, with peanuts and crisp shallots on top. The usual restaurant version adds poached prawns or minced pork and seasons with fish sauce; this one uses tamari, so it is vegan. Look for wing beans in Asian grocers; fine green beans work too. Chef's tip: the common mistake is overcooking the beans; blanch them for 30 seconds only and plunge into iced water, or they turn olive-grey and limp.

20 minThaiSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yam som o (pomelo salad)

Pomelos from Nakhon Chai Si, west of Bangkok, are prized for their dry, juicy segments, and when they come into season in late summer this salad appears on restaurant menus across the central plains. The segments are broken into bursting sacs and tossed with toasted coconut, crisp shallots and peanuts in a dressing of lime, palm sugar and nam prik pao, so it eats sweet, sour, nutty and only mildly hot. Restaurants usually add poached prawns, fish sauce and a chilli jam made with dried shrimp; this version uses tamari and a vegan nam prik pao so it suits everyone. Chef's tip: dress the pomelo just before serving and toss with your fingertips; stirring hard with a spoon bursts the sacs and leaves a watery bowl.

25 minThaiSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yam makheua yao (grilled aubergine salad)

In Bangkok's evening markets, cooks blister long green aubergines straight over charcoal until the skins blacken, then peel them and dress the soft, smoky flesh with lime, chilli, shallot and plenty of herbs. It is a cooling side for grilled meats and sticky rice, or a light lunch on its own. Stalls usually top it with minced pork or dried shrimp and season with fish sauce; here crisp fried tofu and tamari make it vegan. Chef's tip: char the aubergines until they collapse completely and the skin is papery; pulling them off too soon leaves spongy, bitter centres.

30 minThaiSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Plah goong (prawn salad with lemongrass)

Plah is the old Thai word for a salad of barely cooked seafood or meat, and plah goong is a favourite at restaurants along the Gulf coast in Phetchaburi and Hua Hin, where the prawns come in that morning. The dressing of lime and nam prik pao is sweet, sour and smoky, and thin slices of raw lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf make it fragrant and crunchy. Traditionally the prawns are only seared or even served barely 'cooked' by the lime; this recipe cooks them through, which is safer. Chef's tip: dress the prawns while they are still warm, not straight from the fridge; cold prawns won't soak up any of the dressing.

20 minThaiSaladsGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yam nua (grilled beef salad)

Beer gardens and seafood restaurants around Bangkok put yam nua on the table as a drinking snack, but at home it is just as good with sticky or jasmine rice on a hot evening. Thick beef steak is grilled hard over charcoal, sliced and tossed while still warm with cucumber, tomato, onion, mint and coriander in a dressing that is very sour, salty and hot. Thai cooks often serve the beef quite rare; this recipe cooks it to medium so it is pink but not raw in the middle, which is safer for everyone at the table. Chef's tip: rest the steak before slicing and slice across the grain; cutting it straight off the grill floods the board with juice and leaves the strips chewy.

27 minThaiSaladsGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yam hua plee (banana blossom salad)

Banana trees grow in every back yard in central Thailand, and the purple blossom, shredded fine, turns into this crunchy, slightly astringent salad served at family gatherings and temple fairs. It is tossed with poached chicken and prawns in coconut cream, lime and nam prik pao, with toasted peanuts and crisp shallots, so it is creamy, sour and gently smoky. For a vegetarian version, use fried tofu instead of the meat, a vegan chilli jam and soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Chef's tip: drop each shredded handful straight into lime water as you cut; banana blossom left in the air turns black within a minute.

40 minThaiSaladsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HmissGrilled pepper and tomato salad

Hmiss is an everyday cooked salad from Algiers, Oran and Constantine, made in summer when peppers are cheap, and it is set out with bread at the start of Ramadan iftars and family lunches. Green and red peppers and tomatoes are grilled until charred, peeled, chopped and then cooked briefly with garlic, cumin and plenty of olive oil, so it is smoky, soft and gently spicy. Serve it with bread, beside eggs, or with grilled fish. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 120 kcal and 10 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is chopping it to a purée in a blender: hmiss should keep some texture, so chop by hand. Chef's tip: grill a mild green chilli alongside the peppers for gentle heat without overpowering the sweetness.

40 minAlgerianSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nam tok neuaGrilled beef salad

The name means 'waterfall', after the juices that drip from the beef onto the coals, and this salad is what Isan drinking spots and family barbecues serve when there is good meat on the grill. Smoky slices of pink steak are tossed while still warm with lime, fish sauce, chilli flakes, shallots and mint, then dusted with toasted rice powder for crunch. The meat soaks up the dressing like a sponge, so every bite is juicy, sour and hot. Pile it on a plate with sticky rice, cabbage, cucumber and long beans. Chef's tip: choose a steak with some marbling, such as sirloin or rump; very lean cuts turn dry and chewy once sliced thin.

30 minThaiSaladsGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yam woon sen (vegetarian glass noodle salad)

Yam woon sen is the glass-noodle salad sold from the trays of 'yam' vendors in Bangkok's evening markets and served alongside beer at Central Thai gatherings. The street version is tossed with minced pork and prawns; this vegetarian one swaps them for crumbled firm tofu and crunchy wood ear mushrooms, which give the same mix of soft and bite. The noodles are dressed while still warm so they drink up the sour, salty, sweet and hot dressing, then finished with celery leaves, coriander and peanuts. Eat it at room temperature as a light lunch or as one dish in a shared spread. Chef's tip: celery leaves are not a garnish here; Thai cooks use Chinese celery as a main herb, so be generous.

25 minThaiSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tam taeng (Isan pounded cucumber salad)

In Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and the rest of Isan, the somtam stall always offers a cucumber version alongside the papaya one, and many locals prefer it on hot afternoons: tam taeng is juicier, cooler and crunchier. Thick batons of cucumber are bruised, not smashed, with garlic, chillies, lime and palm sugar, so they soak up the dressing but keep their snap. Sellers add fermented fish or dried shrimp; this vegan bowl leans on soy and toasted peanuts for depth instead. It is eaten with sticky rice and grilled food, picked up with your fingers. Chef's tip: use firm cucumbers with small seeds and scoop out a watery core, or the salad floods within minutes.

15 minThaiSaladsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Khao yam (southern Thai rice salad)

Khao yam is breakfast in the south: in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani and Songkhla, morning stalls set out trays of tightly shredded lemongrass, pomelo, long beans, bean sprouts, makrut lime leaves and toasted coconut, and you build your plate around a mound of rice, often tinted blue with butterfly pea flowers. The dressing is normally budu, a sweet fermented fish sauce from the Malay borderlands. This version makes a vegetarian 'budu' by simmering soy sauce, tamarind, palm sugar, lemongrass and shallot into a dark syrup. The result is crunchy, fragrant, sweet, salty and sour in every mouthful. Chef's tip: shred everything as finely as you can; thin slivers of lemongrass and lime leaf are pleasant, thick ones are woody.

45 minThaiSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Larb gaiSpicy chicken salad

Out in the rice-farming provinces of Isan, a plate of larb turns up at almost every family meal and roadside som tam shack, always with a basket of sticky rice and a pile of raw greens. Warm minced chicken is tossed with fish sauce, plenty of lime, dried chilli and a fistful of mint, then finished with nutty, crunchy toasted rice powder. The result is bright, sour, salty and hot all at once, with a pleasing coarse texture. Wrap spoonfuls in lettuce, or eat it with sticky rice, cucumber and long beans. Chef's tip: toast your own rice powder; shop-bought tastes flat, and freshly ground grains smell like popcorn.

25 minThaiSaladsGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thai raw papaya salad

A crunchy, refreshing salad in the style of Thai som tam: shredded green (unripe) papaya, French beans and carrot, barely softened, then tossed with tamarind, lemon, garlic, chilli, soy sauce and sugar and finished with roasted peanuts. Sweet, sour, salty and hot all at once. Serve cold as a starter or with a curry and rice.

21 minThaiSaladsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thai-style fruit salad

A sweet-and-savoury Thai fruit salad: crisp apple, banana, semi-ripe papaya and mango tossed in a coconut milk dressing sharpened with lime and warmed with fresh red chilli and a little red curry paste. Fresh coriander lifts it, and it is served chilled on lettuce leaves. Good as a starter, with a curry, or on its own on a hot day.

20 minThaiSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

FattoushToasted pitta and herb salad

A fresh, crunchy Lebanese salad of tomatoes, cucumber, rocket, celery, spring onions and green pepper with lots of mint and parsley, tossed just before serving with crisp toasted pitta and a sharp lemon, garlic and olive oil dressing. Serve as a starter or alongside falafel and dips.

30 minMiddle EasternSaladsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views