Thai Salads. Techniques, regional traditions and culinary structures

Yam kraton, a traditional Thai santol salad.

Thai Salads. A culinary system shaped by techniques and regional traditions

Thai salads form a complete culinary system rather than a simple group of fresh dishes. Their structure depends on techniques, regional practices and clearly defined families that determine both composition and flavour. From bright and fluid yam dressings to the dense spice pastes of the North, each style reflects a precise culinary logic that shapes the diversity of the Thai repertoire. Understanding these foundations helps explain why Thai salads vary so widely across the country and why they remain central to everyday cooking.

The main families of Thai salads

Yam. Dressing as the structural foundation

The yam family, ยำ, is the largest and most flexible group of Thai salads. Every recipe relies on a fluid and sharp dressing built around lime juice, sugar and fish sauce. Most versions are distinctly hot and use fresh chillies, although some include dried chillies. Their defining feature is the search for immediate aromatic impact rather than subtlety or gradual flavour development.

It is difficult to establish a strict typology because the family is extremely diverse. Several subsets can nevertheless be distinguished according to composition or to the nature of the dressing.

Yam centred on animal proteins

Many yam are almost entirely based on animal products, simply complemented by fresh herbs, a few aromatics and a sharply seasoned dressing. Examples include the salted hard boiled egg salad, yam khai khem, the Chinese sausage salad, yam kun chiang, and the calami salad, yam plamuek. These preparations prioritise the presence of the proteins, using herbs as an aromatic counterpoint without seeking particular complexity.

Green mango yam

Green mango salads form a significant subset. Most belong to the yam family, although some pounded versions relate to the tam group. They feature a wide range of pairings, often built around prawns, whether fresh or dried, sometimes even with fermented shrimp paste. Their appeal lies in the complementarity between the natural acidity of the unripe mango and the intensity of the dressing, together with the crisp texture of the fruit.

Vegetable yam

Vegetable based yam are far less common and often originate in Northern Thailand. They remain little known outside their local area and are relatively rare even within the country. Examples include the mustard green salad, yam phak kat jo, and the tea leaf salad, yam bai cha. In the South, the seaweed salad, yam sarai, is another example. These salads are not necessarily vegetarian since the dressing often contains fish sauce. A few exceptions exist such as certain Northern versions seasoned only with salt, but they remain marginal.

Yam with atypical dressings

Most yam follow the classic balance of lime juice, sugar and fish sauce, but a few depart from this structure. Some use roasted chilli paste, usually associated with the phla family, as in the well known pomelo salad, yam som o. Others incorporate shrimp paste into the dressing, such as the santol salad, yam kraton, or the Southern green mango salad enriched with coconut milk, yam mamuang kati.

Focus. Two emblematic yam

Yam wun sen

Yam wun sen is one of the most popular salads in Thailand. It combines glass noodles, prawns and minced pork with a sharp and intensely spicy dressing. Numerous versions exist, with or without meat, either with prawns alone or with a mixture of seafood. This salad exemplifies the logic of yam: a fluid dressing, immediate heat from fresh chillies, a balanced quantity of herbs and a combination of contrasting textures. It is widely regarded as representative of contemporary Thai taste.

Yam som o

Yam som o is both popular and technically distinctive. Its dressing differs markedly from classic yam. It is built on roasted chilli paste, which is sour, sweet and salty, and on coconut milk, which brings natural sweetness. Pomelo, which is milder and less acidic than green mango or young papaya, creates a different balance and requires careful adjustment of the chilli. Fish sauce and lime juice play a more discreet role, used mainly to fine tune the overall flavour.

Tam. The pounded salads

The tam family, ตำ, occupies a distinctive place in Thai cuisine. The word tam means to pound and refers to the technique, while som tam literally means sour and pounded, the name of the green papaya salad that has become emblematic nationwide. By extension, som tam refers to this specific preparation, but the broader family of pounded salads is far more extensive and is mainly found in Northern and North Eastern Thailand.

What defines tam is not simply the use of the mortar but the way the technique shapes texture, dressing and the perception of chilli. Two main approaches exist, either pounding the ingredients themselves or pounding only the dressing. Each method applies to different types of preparations.

Tam where the ingredients are pounded

The best known salads in this group use young fruits with a firm texture that need softening so that their juice is released and their fibres can absorb the dressing. This includes green papaya salad, som tam, pounded green mango salads and less common preparations such as pounded santol or young jackfruit salads. The technique consists of gentle pounding, alternating the pestle with a spoon, to bend the fibres without crushing them. The goal is to bring the ingredients to a point where they absorb the dressing while retaining their structure.

In this type of recipe, the pounding directly affects texture, making the ingredients softer, juicier and more able to blend with the dressing.

Tam where only the dressing is pounded

Other pounded salads barely touch the main ingredients. It is chiefly the chillies, garlic and seasoning components that are pounded to create a vivid aromatic paste that will dissolve into the liquid part of the dressing. This approach is common in mixed fruit salads, tam ponlamai, and in preparations where the main ingredient must remain intact, such as cucumber salad, tam tengkwa.

In this case, pounding the chillies has a particular purpose. It spreads the heat through the entire preparation, producing a more homogeneous and often more intense profile.

Fluid Isan dressings versus dense Northern dressings

Tam from the Isan region rely on a fluid dressing similar to that of yam, using fish sauce, lime juice, tamarind and sugar. The major difference lies in the use of fermented ingredients, which profoundly alter the flavour.

The emblematic element is pla ra, a fermented fish sauce made from freshwater fish fermented with roasted rice or rice bran. It produces a thick, dark and intensely fragrant sauce. Fermented rice field crabs are often added and pounded to release their juice, which increases salinity and adds a strong briny depth. The result is a powerful flavour profile with no equivalent in yam.

Northern Thailand also uses fermented products but within a very different framework. Dressings are less fluid and less acidic and rely on denser flavours. The key ingredient is nam pu, a fermented rice field crab paste cooked slowly until it becomes thick and compact. Its flavour is deep, saline and earthy, markedly different from the Isan palette.

Although both regions use fermentation, their pounded salads yield distinct results: fluid, sour sweet salty and intensely fermented in Isan, and dense, rustic and predominantly salty in the North.

Focus. Green papaya salad, som tam

Som tam forms a sub family of its own within pounded salads. Numerous versions exist, both in terms of dressing, which may rely on classic or fermented fish sauce and on lime juice sometimes combined with tamarind, and in terms of ingredients, which may include fermented rice field crab, dried prawns, fresh prawns, salted duck eggs or even raw blue swimmer crab in the popular Southern version, a preparation that recalls the koi family and the culture of raw foods in Isan salads.

This diversity justifies a dedicated article which will present the main variants of som tam and their culinary logic. For now, you can discover on our blog the classic version of the green papaya salad with dried shrimp. Readers wishing to explore the particularities of Isan cuisine can consult our detailed article: Isan cuisine. History, flavours and the dishes that tell the story of North-East Thailand.

Larb. The minced salads

Larb, ลาบ, form a family of minced salads characteristic of Northern and North Eastern Thailand. Their shared feature is simple, they are almost always minced or thinly cut. Beyond this, the two regions follow such different logics that it is often more accurate to describe them as two parallel families rather than a single homogeneous group.

What larb have in common

Larb rely almost entirely on animal proteins, although a few vegetable based versions exist, such as mushroom larb or banana blossom larb. When vegetables are present, they are served as accompaniments, cucumber, yard long beans or Chinese cabbage, and not mixed into the salad itself.

All versions share a culture of fine cutting. Meat or fish is minced or sliced into small pieces and may be combined with firmer components such as pork skin, liver or other offal. This dense structure distinguishes larb from yam, which use more varied ingredients and fluid dressings.

Isan larb. Salty, spicy and structured by toasted sticky rice

Isan larb, now the most widespread style both in Thailand and abroad, can be prepared with pork, chicken, duck, beef or fish. Some recipes combine several elements, for example minced pork with pork skin and liver.

The seasoning follows a clear salty spicy profile with acidity present but less pronounced than in yam. It relies on fish sauce, a small amount of sugar and a moderate quantity of lime juice. Heat comes almost entirely from chilli flakes, sometimes complemented by roasted dried chillies. Fresh chillies are rare, unlike in yam or tam.

A defining feature of Isan larb is toasted sticky rice powder, khao kua, which is not found in any other Thai salad family. Raw sticky rice is dry roasted until golden and then pounded into a coarse powder. It provides two functions, a slightly grainy texture that clings to the meat and a distinctive smoked flavour. A link to the full method appears at the end of the article.

Cooking methods vary widely. Larb can be raw, semi raw, briefly poached or cooked longer. Cooked versions can also be shaped into patties, grilled or fried without losing their identity.

Northern larb. A completely different logic

Northern larb have almost nothing in common with those of Isan apart from the fine mincing. They rely on a spice mixture known as prik laap whose composition varies greatly depending on the cook. Typical spices include cayenne chillies, coriander seeds and Zanthoxylum limonella, and sometimes cumin, fennel, mace, star anise, cardamom, clove or cinnamon in widely differing proportions.

The most traditional versions reveal an important cultural trait, the culture of raw preparations. Some larb are completely raw, others mix raw blood with minced pork or beef to create a soft texture, and others are briefly cooked with or without blood.

Certain Northern larb combine minced pork, blood, pork skin, liver, intestines, aromatic herbs such as Vietnamese mint, coriander and spring onion, fried garlic, fried shallots and fried dried chillies. The result is a dense and deeply aromatic preparation, halfway between a salad and a dry stew, without marked acidity.

Northern larb do not contain toasted sticky rice powder and do not follow the sour sweet salty balance found in yam or some tam. They are salty, spicy and herb driven, with their character defined by the spice mixture and, in raw or semi raw versions, by the texture of the meat.

Two approaches to raw preparations

As with tam, the larb family provides an entry point into the culture of raw dishes in Northern and North Eastern Thailand. Raw larb, blood larb and lightly cooked larb echo the raw blue swimmer crab used in Southern som tam or the koi family of raw Isan salads. This raw dimension is a key cultural feature that clearly distinguishes larb from yam and, to some extent, from tam.

Focus. Larb moo, the Isan model

Larb moo, a lightly cooked pork larb, is one of the most representative preparations of Isan minced salads. The meat is briefly poached and then mixed with a salty and spicy dressing made with fish sauce, chilli flakes and a small quantity of lime juice. Toasted sticky rice powder binds the aromas and adds the roasted note characteristic of this family.

The full recipe is available on our blog in its detailed version. A dedicated article gathering the main regional variations of Thai larb will be published soon.

Phla and koi. Raw and semi raw salads

Phla and koi form a group of raw or semi raw salads whose culinary logics are distinct. They occupy a unique place in Thai gastronomy where minimal cooking and aromatic freshness play a central role.

Phla. Herb forward salads

Phla, พล่า, are defined by their abundance of herbs. Thinly sliced lemongrass, mint, saw coriander, coriander and spring onion form a dense aromatic base that clearly differentiates them from yam, where these herbs are not systematic.

Cooking is kept to the bare minimum. Some recipes use seafood that is briefly fried, for example lightly floured calamari quickly seared before being mixed with the herbs. Others rely on grilled meat that remains slightly pink, sliced thinly and simply combined with the dressing. In contrast, some prawn or river prawn preparations are cooked only by lime juice, which makes them partially opaque without actually cooking them through.

The dressing is bright, sour salty sweet and sometimes completed with roasted chilli paste. Proteins are sliced, never minced, which sets phla apart from both yam and larb.

Koi. The raw salads of Isan

Koi, ก้อย, represent one of the most direct expressions of raw food culture in Isan. The protein is always raw, minced or very finely cut, then mixed with a fluid dressing made from fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and chilli flakes.

Toasted sticky rice powder plays an essential role. It absorbs excess moisture, fixes the aromas and adds a light smoked note. This technical marker links koi to Isan larb while distinguishing them from phla, which never use khao kua.

Traditional examples show the range of this family. Koi kung is made with raw minced prawns, seasoned and complemented with a few herbs to preserve freshness. Koi khai mot deng, based on red ant eggs, emphasises a soft texture supported by a vivid dressing. There are also koi made from freshwater fish, raw beef or raw pork, seasoned with chilli and structured by toasted sticky rice powder.

Koi use fewer herbs than phla but rely on a strongly marked aromatic structure where rawness is the signature.

Two aesthetics of raw preparations

Together, phla and koi reflect two distinct approaches to raw preparations in Thai cuisine.

• a semi cooked approach driven by herbs in phla

• an entirely raw approach structured by mincing and toasted sticky rice powder in koi

This distinction explains why these families, often grouped under the label of raw or semi raw salads, actually possess clearly different culinary identities.

Focus. Phla neua yang, grilled beef salad with lemongrass

Phla neua yang perfectly illustrates the logic of phla. The beef is simply grilled, still pink, then sliced thinly and mixed with an aromatic blend dominated by lemongrass, shallot, mint and coriander. The dressing remains sharp, structured by fish sauce, lime juice and a small amount of sugar, sometimes complemented with roasted chilli paste. The full recipe is available on our blog in its detailed version.

Sa. Vegetable based salads built on chilli paste

Sa, ส้า, form a family of salads from Northern Thailand structured around a pounded and briefly stir-fried chilli paste. This feature sets them apart from all other Thai salads. The paste, made from dried chillies, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots and fermented elements such as shrimp paste or fermented fish sauce, plays a central role. It replaces the fluid dressing used in yam or tam and anchors these salads in a distinctly regional aesthetic.

A precise use of chilli, unlike any other family

Chilli handling in sa relies on two clearly distinct steps.

• First, dried chillies are roasted dry or grilled. In many traditional recipes, the chillies are roasted on a dry pan or grilled over a flame to intensify their aroma. This is a dry step without oil.

• Second, the complete paste is briefly cooked in a small amount of oil. Once pounded, the paste is stirred quickly in a little oil to release its flavours. This cooking is very short and has nothing to do with deep frying. It gives the paste a rounder and slightly caramelised profile.

Together, these two stages, roasting the chillies and then lightly frying the paste, produce a dense and direct aromatic profile without a structural acidity. A few recipes use natural acidity, for example young tamarind leaves, but this remains marginal within the family.

A predominantly vegetable logic, rare in Thai salads

Another defining feature of sa is their predominantly plant based composition. While many Thai salads rely on animal proteins or seafood, sa showcase foraged or seasonal vegetables.

Examples include sa yot makham, made with young tamarind leaves, sa pli, based on hand squeezed banana blossom, sa makhuea chae, made with bitter aubergines sometimes complemented with pork, sa phak ruam, a mix of young wild shoots, and sa yot mamuang, made from young mango leaves.

These are among the very few true vegetable salads in the Thai repertoire, apart from a small number of local vegetable yam found in the North. There are meat based versions, such as sa chin, made with fresh beef or buffalo sometimes combined with cooked offal. Even in these cases, the chilli paste remains the technical core of the recipe.

A dense kneaded texture characteristic of the North

Sa have a semi dry, almost paste like texture created by kneading the cooked chilli paste with herbs, aromatics and the main ingredient. In vegetable versions, some components such as banana blossom are squeezed by hand to soften the fibres and allow the paste to integrate evenly.

The result is a salad very different from fluid yam or minced larb. Sa operate according to a specific logic built on pounded and cooked chilli paste, predominant plant elements, marked salinity, direct aromatic intensity and an almost complete absence of acidity. Northern cuisine is markedly different from that of the rest of Thailand and this family of salads is one of its most distinctive expressions.

Readers wishing to explore this unique region can consult our dedicated article: The cuisines of Northern Thailand: Between mountains, tea and traditions.

Focus. Sa yot makham, tamarind leaf and tomato salad

Sa yot makham clearly illustrates the logic of Northern sa salads. A pounded chilli paste is lightly fried then mixed with minced pork before being combined with fresh vegetables. Young tamarind leaves provide gentle natural acidity while tomatoes, an ingredient not common in most Thai dishes, reflect a regional practice typical of the North. The result is a dense vegetable based salad structured by the chilli paste and fermented elements rather than by a fluid dressing. The full recipe is available on our blog.

Fluid categories

Certain Thai preparations borrow the techniques or structural principles of salads while belonging to other culinary registers. Their classification depends more on cultural context than on a strictly technical definition.

Rice, noodles and hybrid cereal based dishes

Khao yam nam budu

A Southern rice based dish that nevertheless adopts the structure of a salad. Raw herbs, crisp vegetables and a strong dressing made with nam budu come together in a way that closely resembles a composed salad even though the main ingredient remains rice.

Khanom chin sao nam

This Central dish, composed of cold rice noodles served with coconut milk, pineapple, fresh vegetables and condiments, functions like a noodle salad even though it belongs to the family of khanom chin dishes. Its structure relies on the immediate mixing of fresh elements just before serving.

Nem khluk

Grilled rice balls are crumbled and mixed with aromatics, herbs and a vivid dressing, creating a texture and aromatic logic close to yam. Yet the technical foundation, fried and compacted rice, makes it an ambiguous hybrid that is difficult to classify.

Snacks built like salads

Miang kham

Served as small bites wrapped in leaves, this preparation brings together herbs, lime, chilli, peanuts and ginger following the same logic as composed salads. It is a snack in format but its flavour structure is fully that of a salad.

Kung che nam pla

Raw prawns marinated in fish sauce and lime rely on a fluid dressing and immediate serving, like a salad, but also belong to the register of raw seafood. The dish stands halfway between salad and raw preparation.

Meat dishes at the border of salads

Nam tok

Grilled meat sliced thinly, toasted sticky rice, herbs and chilli flakes form a combination very close to larb, although the dressing is more fluid. The texture remains that of a meat dish while the aromatic structure recalls salads.

Crying tiger

This dish is based on highly aromatic grilled beef, sliced thinly and combined with a vivid dressing and fresh herbs. It shares the essential structure of salads while being perceived as a grilled beef preparation.

A frontier zone in Thai gastronomy

These dishes show that the notion of salad in Thailand does not correspond to a fixed category. Some preparations function as salads through their aromatic structure or assembly but belong to other registers through technique or usage. This fluidity is one of the defining characteristics of Thai cuisine.

Focus. Crying tiger, between salad and grilled meat

Crying tiger occupies an intermediate position between salad and meat dish. The beef is marinated, grilled and then sliced before being combined with a vivid dressing structured by fish sauce, lime juice, coconut sugar and chilli flakes. Toasted sticky rice powder adds a smoky note that enhances the flavour of the meat while spring onion, shallot and leaf coriander contribute aromatic freshness. The full recipe is available on our blog.

Cooking Thai salads at home

After exploring the full range of Thai salad families, from yam to sa, you will probably want to start cooking your own. The diversity is immense, yet most salads rely on a relatively stable technical foundation. With a few key ingredients and simple rules, you can prepare a large part of the repertoire at home.

Chillies. Four essential forms

To reproduce the most common flavour profiles, you only need:

• fresh chillies for yam and tam

• chilli flakes for larb and koi

• whole dried chillies, roasted or grilled depending on Isan recipes

• roasted chilli paste, nam prik pao, for certain yam and phla. It can be bought ready made but our blog also provides a homemade recipe.

These four forms cover the majority of uses, apart from the specific pastes of Northern Thailand used in sa, which can also be prepared with dried chillies.

Herbs. A limited but essential palette

Thai cuisine uses relatively few herbs in salads, but each plays a precise role. The essentials are:

• coriander

• spring onion

• mint

• lemongrass

These four elements are sufficient for most recipes. Celery leaf, kaffir lime leaf and leaf coriander broaden the aromatic palette but are used in a smaller number of dishes.

Seasonings. Three bases for most salads

For the majority of salads, a simple trio is enough:

• fish sauce

• lime juice

• sugar, ideally coconut sugar

This combination already allows you to prepare yam, part of the tam family, several phla and certain hybrid salads. Regional variants such as the use of pla ra in Isan can then be added.

Toasted sticky rice. The technical ingredient of larb and koi

To make larb or koi, you will need toasted sticky rice powder. It can be prepared at home by dry roasting raw sticky rice before pounding it. The full method is available in our cookbooks dedicated to salads and to Isan cuisine, and also on our blog.

Useful dry ingredients

Dried shrimp, which keep well, allow you to prepare both green papaya salads and many green mango yam. They are among the most versatile pantry ingredients in Thai cooking.

Going further

Our blog already offers several dozen Thai salad recipes, covering all the major families. For readers who wish to explore further, our cookbook dedicated to salads provides a structured approach, while our regional books, especially the volume on Isan cuisine, present numerous traditional variants. Travellers visiting Thailand can also join our cooking classes on Koh Samui to experience these salads and many other dishes.

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