Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)
Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)
Green papaya salad is incredibly popular in Thailand, so next time you're hankering for a salad, switch it up with this recipe.This recipe is courtesy of About.com.
Servings
1
Ingredients
- 1/2 green papaya (see buying instructions below)
- 1 cup or two cups bean sprouts
- 1/2 english cucumber, sliced into matchstick-like pieces
- 2 tomatoes, cut into thin wedges or strips
- 3 green onions, cut into matchstick-like pieces
- 1/2 cup fresh coriander
- 1/3 cup fresh basil
- 1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, ground or chopped
- 3/4 cup or one cup cooked shrimp or crab meat (if vegetarian: add half or one cup fried tofu) (optional)
- 3 or four cloves garlic, minced
- juice from one lime
- 3 tablespoon fish sauce (if vegetarian: four tbsp. soy sauce)
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon or two tbsp. liquid honey (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon shrimp paste (or one tsp. ground bean sauce if vegetarian)
- 1 or two thai red chiles (or substitute half a teaspoon or more of dried crushed chili)
Directions
- Shopping Tip: For this salad, you can try looking for a very green papaya at your grocery store (either 2 Hawaiian papayas or 1 Caribbean type.) However, I recommend buying one at an Asian store, simply because it's hard to tell whether a papaya is actually green or in one of the stages of ripening. Asian stores and markets sell green papayas labeled as such.
- Sometimes they are even sliced open so you can see it is green inside (the seeds will be white.)Stir all of the dressing ingredients together. This dressing should be tangy — a combination of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty, but more sweet than sour (this will help balance out the sharpness of the papaya.)
- Slice the papaya in half lengthwise and crack it open. Scrape out the seeds and discard. Then turn over each half and peel off the green skin.
- Use a large-size grater to grate the papaya, or shred it as they do in Thailand: Simply make many long cuts into the flesh, then thinly slice off the top layer into a bowl (to see what this looks like, go to: How to Shred Green Papaya.)
- At this point, Thai cooks preform an optional step, bashing the shredded papaya with a pestle to bring out the juice. Another way is to place the shredded papaya in a food processor and pulse briefly.
- Combine the green papaya with all the other salad ingredients in a large bowl, reserving the peanuts and half the fresh basil for toppings. Pour over the dressing and toss well
- Taste-test the salad. If you'd prefer it saltier, add more fish sauce or soy sauce. If you'd prefer it sweeter, drizzle over a little more honey. Toss again.
- Portion out into bowls and top with the ground peanuts plus reserved basil. Enjoy!
- Serving Suggestion: In Thailand, Green Papaya Salad is nearly always eaten with a side of sticky rice or coconut rice. To make sticky rice, see: How to Make Sticky Rice (stovetop recipe), or Easy Sticky Rice Recipe (made in a rice cooker). To make coconut rice, see: Coconut Rice (stovetop recipe) or Coconut Rice (in a rice cooker).
- See "salad" instructions.