PAPAYA SALAD (som-tum)

This recipe is based on our experience cooking at the Basil Healthy Thai Cookery School in Chiang Mai.

Serves 1

Ingredients

  • 100gms. shredded green papaya (include some carrot as well if you wish))
  • 1 long green (snake) bean, cut into 2-3cm. (1’’) lengths
  • 1 tomato, cut into quarters
  • 3-5 small red (hot) chillies (to taste)
  • 5-8 cloves of garlic (to taste)
  • 2 tbsp. fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp. lime juice
  • 1 tbsp. tamarind juice* (substitute** lemon or lime juice mixed with a touch of brown sugar, for a sour yet a little bit sweet flavor)
  • 1 tbsp. palm sugar, pounded from the typical block form to something far more workable (substitute** dark brown muscovado sugar)
  • ½ tbsp. dried shrimp* (optional & as a substitute** you could add a little more fish sauce)
  • 1 tsp. Thai anchovy paste* (you could mash an anchovy fillet as a substitute**)
  • 1 tbsp. roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
papaya-salad

Method

  1. In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and chillies until it’s a coarse paste, then add the beans and pound lightly.
  2. Add fish sauce, tamarind juice, lime juice, pounded palm sugar, dried shrimp and anchovy paste and mix well to combine.
  3. Add green papaya (& carrot) and tomato, pound lightly or fold into the mix until it is well blended**.

To serve

Transfer to a plate and top with roasted peanuts.

* Tamarind juice, palm sugar, dried shrimp and Thai anchovy paste are available in most Asian Supermarkets.

** It really is worth the effort to use the original ingredients, however if you are using substitutes, depending on which ones and how much of each, you could change the balance of flavours in this salad. Therefore, tasting as you go and tasting the final version is essential. Be prepared you may need to play around to get the right balance of sweet, sour and salty – so essential to this salad.