Salads

Som tam (green papaya salad)

Crunchy shredded green papaya pounded with chilli, lime, fish sauce and palm sugar. Hot, sour, salty and sweet all at once.

  • 20 min20 prep · 0 cook
  • MediumDifficulty
  • 250 kcalper serving

Ingredients

2 servings
  • Green papaya400 g
  • garlic2 cloves
  • Thai red chillies2
  • Dried shrimp2 tbsp
  • Roasted peanuts30 g
  • Palm sugar1 tbsp
  • Fish sauce2 tbsp
  • Limes2
  • Cherry tomatoes8
  • Green beans60 g

Missing something? Ingredients with × can be left out.

Steps

  1. 1

    Peel the papaya, remove the seeds and cut it into long, thin strips with a julienne peeler or a sharp knife.

  2. 2

    Cut the green beans into short lengths and halve the tomatoes.

  3. 3

    In a large mortar, pound the garlic and chillies to a rough paste. Add the dried shrimp and half the peanuts and pound briefly.

  4. 4

    Add the palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice and stir until the sugar dissolves.

  5. 5

    Add the beans, tomatoes and papaya and gently bruise everything with the pestle, turning it with a spoon so it soaks up the dressing.

  6. 6

    Taste and balance with more lime, fish sauce or sugar. Serve at once, topped with the remaining peanuts.

Tips and questions
What can I use instead of green papaya?
Firm green mango, kohlrabi, or a mix of carrot and cucumber cut into thin strips all give a similar crunch.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Leave out the dried shrimp and replace the fish sauce with light soy sauce plus an extra squeeze of lime.
Can I make it ahead?
You can shred the papaya a few hours ahead and keep it in iced water, but pound and dress it only right before eating.

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