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Recipes by Category » Salads » Thai Lotus Shoot Salad | Yum Lai Bua

Published: Oct 16, 2019 · Modified: May 7, 2021 by Nart · This post may contain affiliate links.

Thai Lotus Shoot Salad | Yum Lai Bua

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This lotus shoot salad or yum lai bua is a favorite to make Thais. It’s refreshing and full of Southeast Asian Flavor. If you’re a fan of crunch vegetable, you’re definitely going to love this!

a plate of Thai lotus shoot salad

Thai Lotus Shoot Salad (Yum Lai Bua)

I’m addicted to this Thai lotus shoot salad (known as yum lai bua ยำไหลบัว in Thai) and have been cooking the stuff weekly for God knows how long. Calling it delicious is an understatement. This is a dish that anyone who’s a fan of crunchy vegetables will enjoy.

As a person who loves cooking, I find lotus very fascinating because you can eat almost every part of it – the root, the shoot, the stem, the petal, the seed, you name it. Not to mention we still use the leaf to package food here in Asia.

Needless to say, my favorite part to eat is the shoot. But even then I had to spend a good amount of time reading about it before writing this post. I didn’t even know what it’s called in English. A lot of people seem to call it ‘lotus stem’ but here’s what I found…

Lotus Shoots and Lotus Stems In Thai Cuisine

a) There are two types of lotus that are eaten in Thailand: ‘bua sai’ and ‘bua luang’ (bua means lotus in Thai, by the way)

b) The stem, or what we call ‘sai bua’ in Thai is the part attached to the flower, whereas the shoot or ‘lai bua’ is underwater and will develop into a new plant. I know — lai bua and sai bua — I swear they confuse some of us too!

c) We eat the stem of bua sai; the stem of bua luang is too tough.

d) Bua luang propagates by shoots but bua sai doesn’t. So the shoots that we eat are bua luang shoots.

a plate of Thai lotus shoot salad

How To Prepare Lotus Shoots For Cooking

Lotus shoots are long strings that come rolled up in bags and here’s what you need to do before you eat them

1. Cut them into 4 cm pieces.

2. When you cut the shoots, you’ll notice some white fibers coming out of the shoots. These are not good and you want to remove them. To do this, fill a large container with water and throw the lotus shoot pieces in. Then, use a chopstick to swirl in the water. The fibers will come off on the chopstick and you can discard them from there. Do this step as many times as you need.

3. Rinse through the little holes in each piece. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s totally worth it! The reason why you have to do this is that sometimes there’s mud inside lotus shoots. If running water can’t remove the mud, cut the piece open with a knife and rinse again.

4. Lotus shoots can be eaten raw but I prefer to blanch them in gently boiling water for about 15 seconds for hygienic reasons. Remember, gently boiling only or your shoots will end up not as crunchy as they should be! Then, you want to transfer the shoots with a slotted spoon to room-temperature water to stop them from cooking. Note that you can add about half a tablespoon of salt to this water to prevent the lotus shoots from browning. While the shoots are cooling, you can prepare your dressing and mix with the shoots once they have cooled.

I hope you learned a thing or two from this post. I’m pretty sure a few other Asian countries eat lotus shoots too, but I can’t seem to pin them down, except for Vietnam. If you’ve seen or eaten them elsewhere, don’t forget to let me know in the comments!

thai spicy and sour salad dressing in a mortar

Ingredients

Salad

  • 7 ounces or 200 grams of lotus shoots
  • 1 Roma tomato, quartered then halved
  • ⅓ cup of sliced cucumber
  • ⅓ cup of roasted cashews
  • ½ cup of crispy pork or any protein you want

Dressing

  • 5 cloves of garlic
  • 10 red Thai chilies
  • 4 ½ tablespoons of lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
  • 1 ½ tablespoons of sugar

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  2. While the water is heating, take your lotus shoots and cut them into 4 cm pieces.
  3. Fill a large container with water, throw the lotus shoots in. Then, use a chopstick to swirl in the water to remove the unwanted fibers. The fibers will come off on the chopstick and you can discard them. Repeat this step until you can no longer see the fibers.
  4. Rinse through the wholes in every piece of the lotus shoots. If you can still see mud inside them, cut them open and rinse again.
  5. Once your water is boiling, turn the stove to a low simmer and blanch the shoots for about 15 seconds.
  6. Transfer the shoots to room-temperature water with a slotted spoon to stop them from cooking. You can add ½ teaspoon of salt to this water to prevent the shoots from browning.
  7. While the shoots are cooling, make your salad dressing. Coarsely pound the garlic and chilis in a mortar. Add lime juice, fish sauce and sugar and pound until well mixed, making sure the sugar is fully dissolved. Taste-test the dressing and adjust as needed.
  8. Once the shoots have cooled, strain and place them in a salad bowl.
  9. Add every other ingredient and the dressing to the bowl and toss.
  10. Transfer the salad to a serving dish and enjoy.

Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:

  • Spicy Thai Sweet Leaf Salad
  • Thai Stir-Fried Morning Glory
  • Thai Pomelo Salad with Baked Pork
  • Low-Fat Thai Corn Salad
  • Vegan Thai Larb
a plate of Thai lotus shoot salad

Thai Lotus Shoot Salad Recipe (Yum Lai Bua)

This Thai lotus shoots salad is so addictive you'll be begging for more after your first bite. It's flavorful, healthy and so easy to make!
5 from 12 votes
Print Rate
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Thai
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Author: Nart

Ingredients

Salad

  • 7 ounces lotus shoots
  • 1 Roma tomato quartered, then halved
  • ⅓ cup sliced cucumber
  • ⅓ cup roasted cashews
  • ½ cup crispy pork or any protein you want

Dressing

  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 10 red Thai chilies
  • 4½ tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1½ tablespoons sugar
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  • While the water is heating, take your lotus shoots and cut them into 4 cm pieces.
  • Fill a large container with water, throw the lotus shoots in. Then, use a chopstick to swirl in the water to remove the unwanted fibers. The fibers will come off on the chopstick and you can discard them. Repeat this step until you can no longer see the fibers.
  • Rinse through the wholes in every piece of the lotus shoots. If you can still see mud inside them, cut them open and rinse again.
  • Once your water is boiling, turn the stove to a low simmer and blanch the shoots for about 15 seconds.
  • Transfer the shoots to room-temperature water with a slotted spoon to stop them from cooking. You can add ½ teaspoon of salt to this water to prevent the shoots from browning.
  • While the shoots are cooling, make your salad dressing. Coarsely pound the garlic and chilis in a mortar. Add lime juice, fish sauce and sugar and pound until well mixed, making sure the sugar is fully dissolved. Taste-test the dressing and adjust as needed.
  • Once the shoots have cooled, strain and place them in a salad bowl.
  • Add every other ingredient and the dressing to the bowl and toss.
  • Transfer the salad to a serving dish and enjoy.
Tried this recipe?Mention @cookingwithnart or tag #cookingwithnart!

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Diana Evans says

    May 20, 2022 at 7:38 pm

    5 stars
    good balance of the yum flavors

    Reply
    • Nart says

      May 23, 2022 at 8:16 am

      Thanks so much! <3

      Reply
    • Nart says

      August 30, 2022 at 12:05 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Christy Boston's Kitchen says

    May 07, 2020 at 8:31 pm

    I love your use of texture and flavor in this recipe. Superb!

    Reply
    • Nart says

      June 01, 2020 at 8:30 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
  3. Lathiya says

    May 06, 2020 at 2:48 am

    5 stars
    The lotus shoot salad looks gorgeous and delicious. I haven’t tried my hands on Lotus shoot. Will look for it later.

    Reply
    • Nart says

      June 01, 2020 at 8:25 am

      Thank you! Hope you can find them, they’re so good 🙂

      Reply
  4. Alpa says

    May 01, 2020 at 7:38 am

    5 stars
    Wow, this looks so awesome! I am going to make this soon.

    Reply
    • Nart says

      June 01, 2020 at 9:37 am

      Thank you, enjoy!

      Reply
  5. Jacqueline Debono says

    April 30, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    5 stars
    Wow this lotus shoot salad looks amazing. I love Thai food but can’t always find the ingredients here in Italy! Anyway I’ll look out for lotus shoots!

    Reply
    • Nart says

      June 01, 2020 at 7:47 am

      Thanks so much! I know what you mean..but hope you can get the shoots!

      Reply
  6. Saif says

    April 29, 2020 at 12:47 pm

    5 stars
    This looks healthy and flavorful. I love most thai food and I am sure this is very delicious especially if it is spicy.

    Reply
    • Nart says

      June 01, 2020 at 7:43 am

      Thanks so much, Saif. It’s very good! 😉

      Reply
  7. Beth says

    April 29, 2020 at 11:40 am

    5 stars
    It looks like in Hawaii lotus roots and shoots are harvested in the fall. I’m saving this delicious-sounding recipe to prepare then. Yum!

    Reply
    • Nart says

      June 01, 2020 at 7:42 am

      Awesome!

      Reply
  8. Elizabeth Newman says

    April 29, 2020 at 4:33 am

    Wow, this recipe looks delicious and lovely.

    Reply
    • Nart says

      April 29, 2020 at 10:40 am

      Thank you, Elizabeth!

      Reply
  9. Dolly @ Thrifty in the Kitchen says

    April 28, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    5 stars
    Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever had lotus shoots before! This looks beyond delicious.

    Reply
    • Nart says

      April 29, 2020 at 10:40 am

      They are so crunchy and good. You’ve got to try them when you have a chance!

      Reply
  10. Jen says

    April 28, 2020 at 7:39 pm

    5 stars
    Nart always has the most interesting recipes. They are always worth the trip to the international market. This one was no exception!

    Reply
    • Nart says

      April 29, 2020 at 10:41 am

      Thank you so much, Jen! <3<3<3

      Reply
  11. Rochelle says

    April 28, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    5 stars
    This looks so healthy and flavorful! Can’t wait to make this…

    Reply
    • Nart says

      April 29, 2020 at 10:41 am

      Thank you, enjoy!

      Reply
  12. Felicia Austin says

    April 28, 2020 at 6:16 pm

    Ooo I never knew you could eat the stem of the lotus root! I wonder if they are the same
    Ones here in Japan. We like lotus root in our stews I need to try this dish ASAP lol

    Reply
    • Nart says

      April 29, 2020 at 10:43 am

      The shoots are different from the root. You’ve got to try this salad when you next visit Thailand or you guys can come to my house and I’ll cook it for you!

      Reply
  13. Caroline says

    April 28, 2020 at 6:13 pm

    5 stars
    This looks wonderful, I’m a big fan of Thai flavors as well, and the flavors and crunch are selling this to me. I’m not sure I’ve seen lotus roots in the store, though, so will need to look out for them.

    Reply
    • Nart says

      April 29, 2020 at 10:44 am

      Thank you so much, Caroline! Roots are much easier to find but these ones are shoots, though! Yes, not too sure how easy they are to find but if you do find them, grab them and try this salad! 🙂

      Reply
  14. Sisley White says

    April 28, 2020 at 5:47 pm

    5 stars
    The flavours of this dish are incredible. It’s so fresh and absolutely moreish.

    Reply
    • Nart says

      April 29, 2020 at 10:45 am

      Thank you so much, Sisley!

      Reply
  15. Veena Azmanov says

    April 28, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    5 stars
    I love everything that is Thai and this Salad looks so easy to make and flavorful to eat too. Combination awesome.

    Reply
    • Nart says

      April 29, 2020 at 10:45 am

      Thank you, Veena! Hope you can find lotus shoots in your area and try this recipe. 🙂

      Reply

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