Thai yam salads
A Thai yam is a salad in name only: lime, fish sauce and chili drive it, whether the base is pounded green papaya, glass noodles or crisp catfish. Pair it with grilled meat and sticky rice, the way the Isan grills do.
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg (CC BY 4.0)
Yam means a sour salad. Som tum is pounded green papaya. Yam woon sen is glass noodles. Yam pla duk foo is crisp catfish. Larb and nam tok are the minced and grilled meat salads in the same heat family. A plate is often 40 to 90 THB. The Isan set adds grilled chicken and sticky rice.
Tell them the heat first. Pet nit noi is a little. Pla ra is fermented fish, funkier than som tum Thai. The Khon Kaen plate is on the som tum page. A Bangkok sit-down version is Somtum Der. Jay rules are on the jay page.
Which salad
- Som tum Thai first. Peanuts and dried shrimp, sweeter than the Isan pound.
- Som tum pla ra only after you know you want fermented fish.
- Sticky rice, not jasmine, when the rest of the table is Isan.
More food guides
Book
Compare Across Southeast Asia: Thai Food vs. Vietnamese Food
Eating your way across Southeast Asia? Pair Thailand’s wok-fired street stalls and regional curries with Vietnam’s herb-bright broths, banh mi, and specialty coffee.
Vietnamese Food Guide & Dish Directory
Regional dish breakdowns, street-stall addresses, and ordering rules for pho, bun cha, banh mi, cao lau, and egg coffee.
Explore Vietnamese Food Guide →Northern Broths & CoffeeHanoi Street Food Guide
Charcoal-grilled bun cha, beef pho at dawn, crispy crab spring rolls, and Old Quarter café culture.
Read Hanoi Food Guide →Southern Markets & SeafoodHo Chi Minh City & Da Nang Food Guides
Late-night shellfish alleys, broken rice plates (com tam), crispy banh xeo crepes, and Central Vietnamese noodle bowls.
Read Saigon Food Guide →Common questions
- Is it a side salad?
- No. With sticky rice and a grill it is the meal.
- Can it be mild?
- Yes, if you say so before they start. A default pound is hot.