About This Recipe

Som tum is one of the most vibrant and technically interesting salads in any cuisine — a dish that is assembled using a pestle and mortar rather than a knife, and whose characteristic texture comes from the bruising and crushing of the vegetables rather than cutting them. It is simultaneously the most refreshing and most intensely flavoured salad imaginable.

The technique is as important as the ingredients. The garlic and chillies are pounded first in the mortar until they form a rough paste. The tomatoes are added next and crushed just enough to release their juice. The long beans are bruised rather than cut, which ruptures the cell walls and allows them to absorb the dressing far more effectively than clean knife-cut pieces would. The green papaya — shredded into long, thin matchsticks using a special papaya shredder or a box grater — is added in stages, pounded lightly to bruise it and worked together with the dressing ingredients.

The balance of the four flavours — hot from the bird’s eye chillies, sour from the lime, salty from the fish sauce, and sweet from the palm sugar — is the entire craft of the dish. Each maker adjusts the balance to personal taste, and no two bowls are quite the same. The correct number of chillies for any individual is a matter of spirited negotiation. Green papaya itself is largely flavourless; it is the dressing, worked into every strand by the pounding, that makes the salad what it is.

Calories: 145 kcal   |   Protein: 4g   |   Carbs: 28g   |   Fat: 2g   |   Fiber: 4g

Thai Green Papaya Salad

Recipe by By butter u0026 berriesCourse: Healthy, Thai

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Calories

145

kcal

Ingredients

• •t400g green papaya, peeled and shredded

• •t100g cherry tomatoes, halved

• •t6 long beans or green beans, cut into 4cm pieces

• •t2–4 bird’s eye chillies (to taste)

• •t2 garlic cloves

• •t2 tbsp fish sauce (or soy sauce for vegan)

• •tJuice of 2 limes

• •t1.5 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar

• •t2 tbsp roasted peanuts, roughly crushed

• •tDried shrimp (optional, traditional)

Directions

• Peel and shred the green papaya using a papaya shredder, mandoline, or the largest holes on a box grater. Place in cold water for 5 minutes to crisp, then drain.
• Using a large pestle and mortar, pound garlic and chillies until roughly broken — not a smooth paste.
• Add long beans and pound lightly just to bruise them.
• Add palm sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice. Stir and pound briefly to dissolve the sugar.
• Add tomatoes and crush lightly — just enough to release juice.
• Add shredded papaya in two or three batches, tossing and pounding lightly between each addition to work the dressing into the strands.
• Taste and adjust balance — more lime for sour, more fish sauce for salt, more sugar for sweet, more chilli for heat.
• Transfer to a plate and scatter crushed peanuts over the top. Serve immediately

NOTES

• A large mortar (ideally the traditional Thai clay version) is essential. A small mortar will not accommodate the volume of papaya.
• The balance of hot, sour, salty, and sweet is personal — start with fewer chillies and less fish sauce than you think you need and adjust upwards.
• If a pestle and mortar is not available, the salad can be made in a large bowl using the back of a spoon to bruise the vegetables, though the texture will be less authentic.
• Green papaya has no resemblance to ripe papaya in flavour — it is crisp, almost flavourless, and acts as a vehicle for the dressing. Do not substitute ripe papaya.

Storage

Som tum is at its best eaten immediately — the papaya releases liquid and softens quickly once dressed, and the salad loses its characteristic crunch after about 30 minutes. It is not a dish designed for storage or advance preparation. However, the shredded papaya can be prepared up to a day ahead and kept dry in the fridge, and the dressing can be made a few hours in advance. Assemble just before serving.

Serving Tips

Serve immediately with sticky rice — the traditional accompaniment that acts as a vehicle for scooping up the salad. Grilled chicken or grilled prawns alongside make for a complete northern Thai meal. The salad is traditionally eaten at room temperature, not chilled, and the heat of the fresh chillies provides warmth that balances the refreshing lime and papaya perfectly.

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