Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad)

About This Recipe

Som Tam is arguably the most consumed dish in Thailand — it originates from Isan (northeastern Thailand) and Laos and is sold on every street corner, made fresh to order in a clay mortar. The technique involves pounding (not mixing) the ingredients together in a mortar: garlic and chillies first, then palm sugar, lime, fish sauce, dried shrimp, green beans and tomatoes, then finally the shredded raw green papaya. The pounding bruises rather than pulverises, creating a salad that absorbs the dressing while retaining texture. The flavour profile is explosive — simultaneously sour, sweet, salty, spicy and savoury. Green papaya has a neutral, crisp flavour that acts as the perfect canvas for this intense dressing.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 400 ggreen (unripe) papaya, peeled and julienned
• 100 ggreen beans, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 100 gcherry tomatoes, halved
• 2garlic cloves
• 3Thai bird's eye chillies
• 2 tbspdried shrimp
• 1.5 tbsppalm sugar or brown sugar
• 2 tbspfish sauce
• 3 tbspfresh lime juice
• 3 tbsproasted peanuts

Instructions

1. 1

   Pound garlic and chilli

   Pound garlic and chillies in a clay or stone mortar to a rough paste.

2. 2

   Add sugar and dried shrimp

   Add palm sugar and dried shrimp. Pound until sugar dissolves.

3. 3

   Add beans and tomatoes

   Add green beans and pound lightly to bruise. Add halved tomatoes and pound lightly — they should break open but not turn to mush.

4. 4

   Add papaya

   Add shredded papaya in handfuls. Use a spoon to toss and mix the papaya into the dressing while gently bruising with the pestle.

5. 5

   Season

   Add lime juice and fish sauce. Toss. Taste — adjust for sourness, sweetness, saltiness and heat. The flavour should be bold and well-balanced.

6. 6

   Serve

   Transfer to a plate. Top with roasted peanuts. Serve with sticky rice.

Variations

• •

  Som Tam Thai: the version most common in Bangkok, with peanuts and dried shrimp.

• •

  Som Tam Pu: add raw salted crab (a speciality of Isan cuisine) — very pungent and not for the faint-hearted.

• •

  Som Tam Korat: the Isan version with fermented fish sauce (pla ra) instead of regular fish sauce.

Storage

Best eaten immediately — the papaya softens quickly once dressed.

Frequently Asked Questions