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Light, refreshing, and bursting with flavour and textures, this Thai Pomelo Salad combines juicy pomelo with toasted coconut, crunchy peanuts and fresh aromatic herbs, all mixed in a tangy fish sauce and lime dressing.

This isn’t your typical fruit salad. This Thai Pomelo Salad, known as Yam Sam O, is zesty, punchy, fragrant and textural, and has the hot, sour, salty, sweet flavours associated with a lot of Thai dishes.

Yam, pronounced yahm, means to mix, and yam Thai salads can be made of any protein, vegetable or fruit, usually dressed in a chilli-sugar-fish sauce-fresh lime dressing.

Serve it as a refreshing side salad or serve it like they often do in Thailand and top it with cooked prawns for a main meal.

In this Post

Why you’ll Love this Recipe
- Cook with me video
What are Pomelos?
Recipe Ingredients
How to Make this Recipe
How to Serve Thai Pomelo Salad
Love a fruity salad? Try these recipes too:
Recipe

Why you’ll Love this Thai Pomelo Salad Recipe

Flavourful. This salad masterfully combines sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavours, delivering a balanced taste experience that is both complex and refreshing.

Textural. With juicy pomelo, crunchy peanuts and coconut and crisp, aromatic lemongrass and lime leaves, every bite offers a delightful mix of textures that keeps you coming back for more.

Versatile. This salad can be served as a light appetizer, a side dish, or even as a main course when paired with protein, like grilled or sauteed prawns.

Vibrant. The colourful ingredients make for a visually appealing dish that will impress your guests and brighten up any table.

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What are Pomelos?

Pomelos are one of the oldest citrus fruit we know of. Called an ‘ancestor fruit’, the accidental cross-pollination of the pomelo with an orange is what gave us the grapefruit.

Native to Southeast Asia, pomelos are both larger and sweeter tasting than grapefruits. Other than the pith and bitter membrane surrounding the individual segments, every other part of the fruit, including the peel, can be used in cooking, much like all other citrus fruit.

This recipe calls for only half a pomelo. You can enjoy the other half by dipping it into a chilli-lime salt and eating it fresh, or you can make a Vietnamese slaw salad (goi).

A quick note on the seasonality of pomelos: here in Australia, we do grow some that are available during the citrus winter months, but we’re also lucky to get imports from Southeast Asia during our summer months.

Thai Pomelo Salad Recipe Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this delightfully sweet, sour and salty textural salad recipe:

For the Dressing:

Bird’s Eye Chilli. Every Thai dressing needs a little heat! If you prefer a milder heat, use a deseeded long red chilli instead of a bird’s eye chilli.

Sugar. Palm sugar is the traditional sugar used to make Thai Pomelo Salad, but these compressed rounds of rock hard sugar can sometimes be hard to find and cumbersome to work with (I hate the noise and feeling of grating palm sugar!). Coconut sugar (the one I choose whenever I make this salad) and brown sugar are excellent substitutes.

Fresh lime juice. Lime juice adds the zesty tang Thai food is well known for, the acidity balancing the heat and saltiness of the other ingredients.

Fish sauce. This staple of Thai cuisine brings a salty, umami depth that is essential for balancing the sweet and sour notes of the salad. You can substitute with soy sauce, but add it slowly until it’s balanced to your tastes.

For the Pomelo Salad:

Pomelo. The star of the salad! Pomelo provides a refreshing and juicy base with its sweet and tangy citrus flavour. Any variety of pomelo will make a delicious Thai Pomelo Salad. If you can’t find pomelo, you can substitute with ruby grapefruit, but note you’ll have to adjust the sugar level in the dressing as grapefruit is more sour than pomelo.

Coconut. The most prominent flavour after the sweet burst of pomelo. Make sure to toast the coconut, and use unsweetened shredded or desiccated coconut to get a fine texture contrast.

Roasted peanuts. If your peanuts aren’t roasted, toast them along side the coconut. They bring a satisfying crunch and texture to the salad.

Shallot. Finely sliced raw shallot adds a sharp and pungent bite. Substitute with thinly sliced and rinsed red onion.

Lemongrass. Fresh lemongrass adds an aromatic aroma and flavour that pairs well with the pomelo and makrut leaves. Just make sure to slice it as thinly as possible so it’s palatable to eat.

Makrut leaves. As with the lemongrass, the makrut leaves need to be sliced very finely so they’re not tough to eat. If you can’t find them fresh, most supermarkets stock bottled lime leaves in the Asian food aisle.

Mint. Fresh mint adds a burst of cool, refreshing flavour, complementing the sweetness of the pomelo and sharpness of the shallot.

Dried shrimp (optional). A scattering of ground, dried shrimp is a common ingredient in Thai Pomelo Salad, but I didn’t have any on hand when I was testing this recipe. I also prefer a fresher salad, and think the funk from the fish sauce is enough to build flavour but not overtake the sweetness of the pomelo. If you love that dried fish funk flavour, add some ground dried shrimp to the salad when you add the coconut.

Find the exact quantities in the recipe card below.

How to Make this Thai Pomelo Salad Recipe

Making this delicious Thai Pomelo Salad is time consuming but the final dish is well worth the effort. Put on your favourite music, pour a glass of your favourite drink and get to peeling that pomelo! Here’s the quick rundown on how to make the recipe:

Make the Dressing. Using a mortar and pestle, or a sturdy spoon, crush the chilli into the sugar. Then mix in the lime and fish sauce, stir well, then taste and adjust if needed (fish sauce brands vary wildly!).

Prepare the Pomelo. Underneath the yellow-green skin, pomelos have a thick, bitter pith. To remove it and get the fruit beneath, start by cutting off the top and then carefully scoring the outside of the pomelo six times. Slide you fingers between the pith and fruit and push down and away. Most of the pith will come away, but don’t worry if there’s still some left. Split the fruit in half and then into segments. Peel or cut away the inner membrane to expose the fruit and then gently pick out the pomelo, leaving any bitter pith or membrane behind. And don’t worry about keeping the segments whole – which can be tricky depending on the variety of pomelo you have!

Toast. In a dry pan, toast the desiccated coconut until golden brown, stirring frequently. DO NOT LEAVE THE COCONUT UNATTENDED as it burns very quickly. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Chop. While this salad is textural, you don’t want big chunks of anything but pomelo, so take some time to finely chop the shallot, lemongrass and makrut leaves, and roughly chop the peanuts and mint leaves.

Make the Salad. When you’re ready to serve, add the toasted coconut and all the chopped ingredients in a bowl with the pomelo. Spoon the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine, ensuring all the ingredients are evenly coating the pomelo segments.

How to Serve Thai Pomelo Salad

Thai Pomelo Salad is incredibly versatile and can be enjoyed in various ways:

As an Appetizer. Serve the salad in small, individual bowls or on small plates as a refreshing starter to a Thai-inspired meal. The light and zesty flavours will set the tone for the courses to come.

As a Side. Pair this salad with grilled seafood or chicken and rice noodles. The bright citrus notes of the pomelo complement the savory, smoky flavours of grilled dishes beautifully.

As a Main. For a light yet satisfying meal, serve the salad topped with sauteed or grilled prawns or soy sauce marinated tofu for a complete meal.

Love a fruity salad? Try these recipes too:

Pomelo and Salmon Vermicelli Noodle Salad

Cherry Salad with Feta and Almonds

Mandarin and Chickpea Salad with Halloumi

Winter Citrus Salad with Cardamom Dressing

Fruit and Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Blood Orange, Beet and Burrata Salad with Hot Honey

Have you made this Thai Pomelo Salad (Yam Sam O) yet? How did you serve it? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know. Or take a pic and tag me over on Instagram, I love seeing what you guys are making from the blog!

Recipe

Thai Pomelo Salad (Yam Sam O)

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Course: Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: Thai

Diet: coconut, coconut sugar, finger lime, fish sauce, lemongrass, makrut leaves, mint, peanuts, pomelo, shallot

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 5

Servings: as a side

Author: Eff | Food Daydreaming

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Dressing

1 bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped
2 teaspoons coconut sugar, or palm sugar or brown sugar
1-2 tablespoons lime juice
1-2 teaspoons fish sauce

For the Salad

2 tablespoons shredded, unsweetened coconut
½ pomelo, around 2 cups, torn into chunks
2 tablespoons peanuts, roughly chopped
½ shallot, thinly sliced
Bottom half of 1 lemongrass stalk, thinly sliced
2 makrut leaves, centre ridge removed and sliced very thinly
1/3 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped

Instructions

Start by making the dressing. Using a mortar and pestle, or a sturdy spoon, crush the chilli into the sugar. Then mix in the lime and fish sauce, stir well, then taste and adjust if needed (fish sauce brands vary wildly!) by adding more sugar, lime juice or fish sauce. Set the dressing aside.
1 bird’s eye chilli, 2 teaspoons coconut sugar, 1-2 tablespoons lime juice, 1-2 teaspoons fish sauce
In a dry pan over medium low heat, dry toast the coconut until golden brown, stirring frequently. Empty the toasted coconut into a small bowl and set aside to cool.
2 tablespoons shredded
To peel the pomelo, slice away the top of the fruit, keeping some of the white pith intact. Carefully, score the pith from top to bottom around the fruit 4-6 times and use your fingers to slide between the pith and the fruit to pry the skin away. Find the segment line and pull or cut the pomelo in half. Wrap one half in cling film and store in the fridge for another recipe (or dip it in lime and chilli salt and enjoy it fresh!). Remove the membrane between the pomelo slices and gently ease out the vesicles. Set them aside in a bowl. https://fooddaydreaming.com/vietnamese-goi-salad/
½ pomelo
When you’re ready to serve the salad, place the pomelo in a serving bowl and add the toasted coconut, chopped peanuts, thinly sliced shallot, lemongrass, makrut leaves and mint leaves. Spoon most of the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine, ensuring all the ingredients are evenly coating the pomelo segments. Taste and add the rest of the dressing if needed, depending on the juiciness and ripeness of your pomelo. Serve immediately as a side or top with sauteed prawns for a main meal. https://fooddaydreaming.com/thai-style-marinated-prawns/
2 tablespoons peanuts, ½ shallot, Bottom half of 1 lemongrass stalk, 2 makrut leaves, 1/3 cup mint leaves

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Notes

A note on sugar for Thai dressings:
Palm sugar is the traditional sugar used to make Thai Pomelo Salad, but these compressed rounds of rock hard sugar can sometimes be hard to find and cumbersome to work with (personally, I hate the noise and feeling of grating palm sugar!). Coconut sugar (the one I choose whenever I make this salad) and brown sugar are excellent substitutes.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @food_daydreaming or tag #fooddaydreaming on instagram. I love seeing what you all come up with!

Nutrition

Thai Pomelo Salad

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