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All-Purpose Thai Salad Dressing

Learn this spicy, tart salad dressing and you can make any kind of Thai "yum." Yum is the most common type of Thai salad. I recommend reading about the different variations of dressing in the blog post to help you decide which dressing is right for you!

Servings: 4 servings
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Thai

Ingredients

Basic Yum Dressing
  • 3 red Thai chilies seeds removed if desired (see note)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 5 stems cilantro chopped (optional)
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons palm sugar finely chopped, packed
  • 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
Variation 1 and 2 - Chili Paste and/or Coconut Milk Dressing
  • 3 red Thai chilies seeds removed if desired (see note1)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 5 stems cilantro chopped (optional)
  • ½ Tablespoon palm sugar finely chopped, packed
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons Thai chili paste (see note 2)
  • 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1-2 Tablespoons coconut milk (optional, see note 3)
Variation 3 - Umami Dressing
  • 3 red Thai chilies seeds removed if desired (see note)
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 5 stems cilantro chopped (optional)
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons palm sugar finely chopped, packed
  • 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon pla ra (fermented unfiltered fish sauce) or sub 1 teaspoon gapi (fermented shrimp paste)
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Note: If making a large amount you can put everything into a blender and blend just until there are no big chunks but don't make it silky smooth.
Method 1 using a mortar and pestle:
  1. Pound the garlic, chilies and cilantro stems into a paste.
  2. Add the palm sugar and pound until the sugar has turned into a paste. If using Thai chili paste or shrimp paste, add it now and use the pestle to mash it up and mix it into the herbs. Add the lime juice and fish sauce and/or pla ra and swirl the pestle or whisk until well combined.
  3. If using coconut milk, simply stir it in now.
Method 2 without a mortar and pestle:
  1. First combine the finely chopped palm sugar with the lime juice and fish sauce and stir until the sugar has mostly dissolved; set aside. Don’t worry about the last few stubborn bits for now, they will soften as they sit in the liquid.
  2. Grate the garlic with a microplane or use a garlic press to make a paste and add to a small mixing bowl. Mince the chilies and the cilantro stems as finely as you can, then add to the garlic. If using chili paste or shrimp paste, add to the garlic mixture and stir to mix and loosen the chili paste.
  3. Back to the fish sauce mixture, if there are any undissolved lumps of palm sugar, you should now be able to smash them down with the back of a spoon. Once all is dissolved, add to the garlic mixture and stir to combine. Tip: If you’re using chili paste, it will help to add just a splash of the liquid seasoning first, then stir to dissolve the chili paste before adding the rest.
  4. If using coconut milk or plara, simply stir it in at the end - you don’t want to add these ingredients in the beginning as it’ll make it hard to see any undissolved lumps of sugar.

Notes

  • If you want it less spicy, it's better to remove the seeds and pith than to use fewer chilies. That way you can still keep the chili flavour.
  • You can add more or less chili paste than the amount suggested, but since it is quite sweet, the more chili paste you use, the less sugar you should add. Different brands of chili paste also vary in sweetness, so tasting and adjusting is important here. 
  • Coconut milk adds slight creaminess and richness, add more for a creamier dressing.