Savoury
Thai green papaya salad (Som tam Thai)
Crunchy green papaya pounded with dried shrimp and peanuts. Sour, sweet, salty and spicy, all on one bright plate.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Total
- 20 min
- Serves
- 2
- Difficulty
- Easy
Fruit to use
Green (unripe) papaya: all-green skin, firm, crisp white flesh
About this dish
Som tam Thai is the Central Thai take on papaya salad: a little sweeter, with dried shrimp and peanuts, unlike Lao-style som tam or the Isan versions with salted crab and pla ra (fermented fish). Often eaten with sticky rice and grilled chicken.
Ingredients
Serves 2
Shredded green papaya
250 g (about 2½ cups)
Garlic
2 cloves
Bird's eye chillies
1–3 · small, very hot Thai chillies; use fewer for mild
Palm sugar or coconut sugar
20 g (1½ tbsp) · soft, caramel-tasting sugar; chop it finely, or use light brown sugar
Dried shrimp
2 tbsp · small sun-dried shrimp, sold in Asian shops
Roasted peanuts
3 tbsp · keep 1 tbsp for the top
Yardlong beans
2 · cut into 3 cm pieces; green beans work too
Cherry tomatoes
6 · halved
Fish sauce
1½ tbsp · salty Thai seasoning made from fermented fish
Lime juice
2–3 tbsp · 1–2 limes
To serve
Steamed sticky rice
Fresh vegetables
e.g. cabbage wedges, yardlong beans, morning glory
Vegetarian swap
Light soy sauce
1 tbsp + 1 pinch of salt · instead of fish sauce
Extra roasted peanuts or diced fried firm tofu
2 tbsp · instead of dried shrimp
Method
Peel the papaya, rinse off the sap and shred it into long, thin strands until you have 250 g.
Put the garlic and chillies into a mortar and pound until roughly broken.
Add the palm sugar and pound until it melts into the paste.
Add the dried shrimp and 2 tbsp of the peanuts and pound lightly until crushed.
Add the yardlong beans and tomatoes and pound gently until bruised and juicy.
Add the fish sauce and lime juice and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Add the papaya and pound gently, tossing with a spoon between strokes, for about 30 seconds until well coated.
Taste: it should be sour, sweet and salty in balance. Adjust to your liking.
Pile onto a plate, sprinkle with the remaining peanuts and serve with sticky rice and fresh vegetables.
Tips
- A good green papaya is all-green, heavy and firm. If the flesh inside is turning orange, it won't be crunchy.
- Soak the shredded papaya in iced water for 5 minutes, then drain, for extra crunch.
- No mortar? Use a large, sturdy bowl and gently bash with a rolling pin or wooden spoon.
- No papaya shredder? A julienne peeler or the large holes of a box grater work well.
- This Thai-style version is seasoned with fish sauce, dried shrimp and peanuts. It doesn't use raw pickled crab or pla ra.
- Eat it straight away. As it sits, the papaya releases water and loses its crunch.