Som Tam Thai (Thai Green Papaya Salad)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 18 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 2 servings
- Ingredients
- 8
About this dish
Fine shreds of green papaya get lightly bruised in a mortar so they soak up lime juice, fish sauce, and palm sugar.
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Unripe papaya has none of the fruit's sweetness, just a crisp crunch, and the dressing hits hot, sour, salty, and sweet all at once. A cold-water soak firms the shreds, but they need thorough draining or the measured dressing turns watery. Light pounding is all it takes; stop once the tomatoes start to release juice, before they collapse. Without a mortar, a large bowl and a rolling pin do the same job with gentle pressing, and seeding the Thai chilies tames the heat. Serve it as soon as the peanuts are mixed in, while the papaya is still crisp.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Peel 250 g green papaya and cut it into fine shreds.
Soak the shreds in cold water for about 10 minutes to firm them up, then drain very well so the dressing will not become diluted.
- 2
Cut 70 g long beans into 3 cm pieces and halve 120 g cherry tomatoes.
For a milder salad, split the 2 Thai chilies and remove the seeds before pounding them.
- 3
Put the chilies and 1 tbsp palm sugar in a mortar first.
Pound and press until the sugar starts to soften and turn moist, and the chili aroma is released without making a paste.
- 4
Add 2 tbsp lime juice and 1.5 tbsp fish sauce, then stir until the palm sugar dissolves into the liquid.
Taste the dressing and check that salty, sour, sweet, and spicy notes feel balanced.
- 5
Add the long beans and tomatoes to the mortar and pound lightly for about 30 seconds.
The tomatoes should release some juice into the dressing, but they should not collapse completely.
- 6
Add the drained papaya and toss from bottom to top while pounding very gently for about 1 minute.
Mix in 25 g roasted peanuts at the end and serve while the papaya is still crisp.
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