Thai Seafood Salad

Thai Seafood Salad, or Yam Talay (Yam meaning salad, and Talay meaning seafood), is one of the most popular dishes with Thai people and visitors to Thailand as well. Nobody can deny that the rich variety of fresh, high quality seafood, which is widely available all across Thailand, adds significantly to its culinary quality. Thai Seafood Salad is the very pinnacle of Thai seafood preparation in many ways. Spicy, flavoursome and made from only the freshest squid, shrimp and fish, it is one of the classic dishes of Asian cuisine.

Quite often a Thai Seafood Salad will be eaten as a meal in its own right, with several people sharing a large plate full. At other times, it will be ordered in a small portion, as a side dish, as part of a larger meal.

There is a second variation to Thai Seafood Salad, which is more popular as a standalone dish. This is Thai Seafood Salad with Glass Noodles. As the name suggests, the only difference is that glass noodles are added to the recipe, which makes it far more filling, and therefore more suited as a main meal.

Regional variations of Thai Seafood Salad do exist. Parts of Thailand (or even individual cities), which are located on or close to the coast, will often add a wider variety of seafood, such as shrimp, crab and squid, which is readily available, fresh, and cheap. In land, quite often more fish will be added, as this is far easier to obtain fresh in an area that does not have access to freshly caught seafood.

Thai Seafood Salad has a very distinctive taste; it is intended to be both spicy and sour at the same time. When a chef gets the recipe right, then this taste is perfectly balanced. Because of the strong flavour, which can be quite challenging even for Thai people, a plate of Thai Seafood Salad is usually eaten quite slowly, allowing the taste buds to recover between bites. Also, due to this taste, it is often ordered with an accompaniment of beer or whisky. It is quite a culinary experience to set your taste buds on fire with a spoon of spicy Thai Salad, and then drink a little beer to help soothe the burning sensation, and dull the sour taste.

You can order everything you need to create this traditional Thai dish at home on our 1-click recipe page!