Thai Spicy Tuna Salad Recipe
Many different cuisines have different variations of tuna salad. This Thai spicy tuna salad is a zingy, spicy, and addictive combination that will have you coming back for more. I promise that if you make this salad well, it’ll become a staple of your culinary repertoire.
I first ate this salad on my maiden journey to Thailand. I was in Chiang Mai, not sure where to eat or what to order. There was a cafe on Ratchamanka Road in the city’s old town. It was around midday, and the heat was getting to me.
I plonked my ass down in a chair and glanced at the menu. The tuna salad option popped out so I decided to order it. After waiting five minutes and sipping on a mango shake, the salad arrived at my table. I was blown away by the first mouthful.
This was unlike any tuna salad I’d ever eaten back home. It was spicy, zingy with lime sourness, aromatic from lemongrass, and wonderfully fresh from herbs and raw onion. The usual harshness of raw onion was toned down by the lime juice in the salad’s dressing.
I immediately asked the waitress if she could get a recipe for the salad from the chef. I was kindly invited to the kitchen to watch the chef making it. He spoke only Thai so I pretty much had to watch carefully and make a mental note of how he made the salad. I rushed back to my accommodation and wrote everything I remembered down.
The result is this delicious Thai spicy tuna salad recipe that you’re about to read. What will keep you coming back to this recipe is the fact that it’s very easy to make, really healthy, and the addictive dressing.
On one final note, the recipe is not particularly complicated but it does ask for palm sugar and celery leaves.
For the palm sugar, you want soft, fresh palm sugar. If you can’t find palm sugar, replace with a tablespoon of a solution composed of two parts white or brown sugar to one part hot water.
For the celery leaves, you may find that it’s hard to buy celery leaves on their own. Many supermarkets often sell celery with the leaves still attaches. Buy a fresh bunch of celery and remove the leaves. Reserve the celery for other uses, such as dipping in my Thai green chili dip.
I hope you enjoy this delicious Thai spicy tuna salad recipe. Please let me know what you think in the comments.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings | people |
- 1 can tuna get tuna in spring water
- 2-3 whole green or red Thai chilis
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- 1 teaspoon palm sugar
- 1 handful celery leaves
- 1 handful fresh coriander
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 whole fresh lime
- 1/2 whole yellow onion
- 2 whole garlic cloves
Ingredients
| |
- Slide the chilis very thinly. Remove the hard outer coating from the lemongrass stalk to expose the softer inner, and slide the stalk thinly. Slice the garlic cloves thinly aswell.
- Peel the ginger using a tablespoon. Cut into thin matchsticks of around 2 inches long. Roughly chop the celery leaves and coriander.
- Cut the onion and lime in half. Thinly slice the onion. Squeeze the lime juice into a small bowl in which you'll make the dressing. Drain the can of tuna fully into the sink.
- To make the dressing, add chilis, ginger, fish sauce, garlic, and sugar to the small bowl containing the freshly squeezed lime juice. Mix well and taste with a spoon. The dressing should be zingy, mostly sour with notes of saltiness, sweetness, and heat.
- In a large salad bowl, combine the sliced onion, drained tuna, coriander, celery leaves, and lemongrass. Mix well with a fork to break up the tuna.
- Pour the dressing from the small bowl into the main salad bowl. Toss the salad well to ensure an even coating. Serve and enjoy.
I lived in Thailand for a few years during my 20s during which time I fell in love with Thai food. Along with my Thai partner, I cook and eat tasty Thai dishes 3 or 4 times per week. I’m here to bring you recipes, Thai food tips, and suggested cookware for making Thai food.