“Yum” or spicy salad involves mixing meat and vegetables together with a special sauce to create a dish that’s sweet, sour and salty. Since most Thais are accustomed to potent, spicy food, the dish is very palatable to them. Yum menus are available in almost every restaurant and even a small vendor selling the salad from a cart can bring in a good income due to the dish’s popularity. There is a wide variety of spicy salad available such as water mimosa salad, winged bean salad, shrimp salad, squid salad, minced pork salad, pork sausage salad, or even a mixed salad menu that combines any or all of the above. Sometimes fermented fish sauce is added for a more intense flavor.
Yum wasn’t always as spicy as it is now though, and the term was originally used to describe any dish featuring vegetables which were tossed together and served. . Records of a dish referred to as ‘Yum Dawei’ date back to the reign of King Rama V and the dish was described as various meat and vegetables served with mild chili, sprinkled with crispy fried shallot, and doused in coconut milk for extra creaminess. The dish has been developing ever since and has now become a fixture in modern Thai cuisine.
