When does “yum” doesn’t mean “yummy”? Answer: When you are in Thailand.
Yum refers to spicy, sweet and sour salads with meat, seafood or fruit, mixed with chili/dry chili, fish sauce, onions/shallots, lime juice, sugar and herbs like lemongrass, mint leaves, kaffir lime leaf, spring onion and coriander.
More people are familiar with tom yum than with yum. Tom yum is the hot, sour and spicy seafood soup commonly served in Thai restaurants or food stalls. “Tom” means boil/boiled in Thai.
If you like salad, you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to salads in Thailand. You can choose from a variety of salad dishes, including:
- Yum talay (seafood salad)
- Yum nuea (beef salad)
- Yum mamuang (mango salad)
- Yum khai dao (egg salad)
- Yum woon sen (glass noodle salad)
- Yum som-O (pomelo salad)
I made a pomelo salad for a Thai buffet some years back. I heard a Spanish friend commenting to someone that she thought that it was a healthy way of eating salad as there was no oil in the dressing, which was true. (You can adjust the level of spiciness, sourness and saltiness according to your preference.)
My friend, P’Pew (of the P’Pew’s Mum’s Arroy Chicken Recipe post) sent another recipe. She called it:
Thai-style hot and sour Chinese Sausage Salad
1) 2 pieces (about 6 inches long) cooked* Chinese sausage (sliced)
2) 2 (6inches long) Japanese cucumber (scoop the soft center out a bit) cut into 4 long slices. Then cut diagonally into small pieces
3) 1/2 cup shallots/onion thinly sliced
4) 1-2 tsp.chillies (any kind sliced thinly)
5) For dressing mix lime/lemon/calamansi juice+fish/soy sauce and a bit of sugar.
6) A few drops of dark soy sauce for colouring.
7) Coriander leaves
Toss everything together.
Chopped coriander leaves can be added at this point or sprinkled on top before serving .
This dish cuts the greasiness of Chinese sausage or lup cheong.
Amount of seasoning is adjustable according to personal preference .
“I like mine on the sour side.” P’Pew
*Note: The Chinese sausage can be cooked by frying or steaming. Actually if you parboil before frying it doesn’t burn easily (as it is almost 100% cooked) and the skin is crispy.
[Chinese sausages are usually made of pork or chicken. Halal Chinese chicken sausages are available]
Homskil would like to thank P”Pew for her contributions to this Blog.
By Chayo, HomSkil Editor 1, 28 March 2021
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