Thai shrimp and glass noodles or goong ob woonsen is a classic Thai dish that’s easy to make and never fails to impress! It’s great on its own or with rice. Even greater accompanied by Thai seafood sauce or Chinese vinegar!
What Are Glass Noodles?
Glass noodles, also known as, cellophane noodles, bean thread noodles, mung bean noodles, Chinese vermicelli, and in Thai “woonsen (วุ้นเส้น),” are noodles made from mung bean starch. These noodles are mostly sold dried in packets and you need to soak them per package instructions. But usually, takes less than 7 minutes to soak and cook them. Glass noodles are transparent when they are cooked and you basically want them to be just soft enough to eat when you cook them.
In Asian cuisines, we use these noodles in many types of dishes, ranging from soups to stir-fries, salads, spring rolls, or even meatballs and sausages. When used in soups, stir-fries, and salads, they tend to absorb liquid quite quickly. For a glass noodle soup, a five-minute phone call could mean no soup left! So, it’s best to cook glass noodles when you’re ready to eat them.
Note: Contradictory to what many people believe, mung bean noodles are not a low-calorie or diet food!
That Shrimp And Glass Noodles (GOONG OB WOONSEN)
Maybe it was the shrimp in my freezer screaming “cook me already!” or maybe it’s just because noodles are always a good idea. Either way, I was really feeling this Thai shrimp with glass noodles or goong ob woonsen (กุ้งอบวุ้นเส้น) this week. This dish is especially good washed down with Thai iced tea, Thai pink milk, or butterfly pea lemonade.
Before we talk more about this dish, let tell you a bit about its Thai name.
If you’re a fan of Thai food, you may already be familiar with the word ‘goong’ already, since tom yum goong, arguably the most famous Thai dish, also has this word in it. In Thai, goong simply means shrimp or prawn. Not many of us know the differences between the two. To us, both shrimp and prawn are goong. Then, we have the word ‘ob‘ which generally means to bake. Though in this case, it’s not baking in your shiny oven but more cooking something in a pot with a lid on to trap heat in it. And, of course, lastly, there’s the ‘woonsen’ which is Thai for glass noodles.
Although goong ob woonsen looks like it may just be another Asian noodle stir-fry you have and more often than not end up feeling guilty about, that’s actually not what it is. Traditionally, this Thai glass noodle dish isn’t stir-fried but actually cooked in a clay pot with the lid on, just as the word ‘ob’ in the name suggests. As it’s not a stir-fry, you don’t use a lot of oil – just enough to grease your pot or pan. If you have a non-stick heavy-bottomed pot, it’ll be your best bet for this dish.
What Makes This Dish Special
GINGER! As much as you think it’s the glass noodles and shrimp, it’s ginger that actually gives life and extraordinary flavor to this dish. Sure, every ingredient used matters, but ginger is the most prominent one because it’s in the base of the sauce. And then, we even use ginger slices to infuse the oil at the bottom of the pot or pan when we cook this dish.
Oh, and this is totally my opinion – out of all the Asian noodles, glass noodles are the best! There’s something about their unique texture that I really enjoy. And as they’re often sold dried in packets, they’re a great thing to keep in the pantry. Not to mention you only need to soak them for just a couple of minutes to soften before you cook them. It’s super easy and doesn’t leave a mess behind. We all live for things like these, don’t we?
How To Prepare The Shrimp For This Dish
In goong ob woonsen, you can use shrimp in any size and as much or little as you want. While many Thais enjoy shrimp heads, I believe some also leave them and the shells on for aesthetic reasons. I prefer to remove the heads, shell, devein and leave just the tails on, though. That said, you can prepare your shrimp however you want. There’s no right or wrong.
Ingredients
Main
- 2.8 ounces or 80 grams of dried glass noodles
- 3.52 ounces or 100 grams of shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 8-10 of ginger slices, peeled
- 10 shrimp, about 7.05 ounces or 200 grams, shelled, deveined with tails on
- ¾ cup of chopped Chinese celery
Sauce
- 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 3 slices of ginger slices, peeled
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of sweet soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
- ¾ cup of water
How To Make Goong Ob Woonsen
- Soak the noodles in room temperature water per package instructions.
- Make the sauce by pounding 5 cloves of garlic and 3 slices of ginger in a mortar until quite fine and transfer to a mixing bowl.
- Add the sugar, ground white pepper, soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce, and water and mix. Set aside.
- Cut the soaked noodles so that they are easier to eat when cooked and drain the water.
- Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss. Add the shiitake mushrooms and toss again.
- Add the oil and 8-10 ginger slices to a heavy-bottomed pan or pot (non-stick, if possible) and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is sizzling, add the noodles that have already been mixed with the sauce and mushrooms and place the shrimp on top. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Open the lid and stir the noodles to make sure the sauce is thoroughly distributed.
- Add the chopped Chinese celery. Then, cover and cook for another minute before turning off the heat and serving.
Serving This Dish
Goong ob woonsen can be served in the pot or pan it’s cooked in. But if you want to serve it in a nice casserole or bowl, you can transfer the noodles and then serve them on plates. I usually don’t bother since this dish is more often than not something to be shared. So yeah, we just pick up a pair of chopsticks and eat off the pan!
Last but not least, this recipe is good on its own (if I say so myself!), but for those of you who want to go all out, I highly recommend you serve it with my Thai hot & sour salad dressing or seafood sauce. They are SO DAMN GOOD together. A lot of food joints in Thailand are serving Thai shrimp and glass noodles with this dressing/sauce now. Try and you’ll thank me for this later!! And if no time? No worries! Chinese vinegar is a great alternative too. 🙂
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:
- Miso Tahini Shiitake Mushroom Spaghetti
- Thai Instant Noodle Salad (Yum Mama) | ยำมาม่า
- Vegan Thai Red Curry with Mushrooms
- Stir-Fried Water Spinach
- Thai Cashew Chicken | Gai Pad Med Mamuang
Thai Shrimp and Glass Noodles | Goong Ob Woonsen Recipe
Ingredients
Main
- 2.8 ounces or 80 grams dried glass noodles
- 3.52 ounces or 100 grams shiitake mushrooms sliced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8-10 slices ginger peeled
- 10 shrimp about 7.05 ounces or 200 grams shelled, deveined with tails on
- ¾ cup chopped Chinese celery
Sauce
- 5 cloves garlic peeled
- 3 slices ginger peeled
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce sliced
- 1 teaspoon sweet soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- ¾ cup water
Instructions
- Soak the noodles in room temperature water per package instructions.
- Make the sauce by pounding 5 cloves of garlic and 3 slices of ginger in a mortar until quite fine and transfer to a mixing bowl.
- Add the sugar, ground white pepper, soy sauce, black soy sauce, oyster sauce, and water and mix. Set aside.
- Cut the soaked noodles so that they are easier to eat when cooked and drain the water.
- Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss. Add the shiitake mushrooms and toss again.
- Add the oil and 8-10 ginger slices to a heavy-bottomed pan or pot (non-stick, if possible) and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is sizzling, add the noodles that have already been mixed with the sauce and mushrooms and place the shrimp on top. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Open the lid and stir or toss the noodles to make sure the sauce is thoroughly distributed.
- Add the chopped Chinese celery. Then, cover and cook for another minute before turning off the heat and serving.
Video
Notes