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Green papaya salad on a white serving dish, with lettuce, chilli and lime in the background.

Som Tam - Thai Green Papaya Salad

Somjit Najaireeb
Famous spicy, sour, salty and sweet salad from Thailand. Delicious when eaten with fresh leafy greens, fried meats and glutinous rice!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 5 mins
Total Time 10 mins
Course Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Thai
Servings 4
Calories 68 kcal

Equipment

  • Pestle and Mortar
  • Food Shredder
  • Large Spoon
  • Food Processor
  • Fruit Peeler

Ingredients

  • 3 cups green papaya, shredded
  • mix of fresh red and green bird's eye chilli, 2: mildly spicy. 4: spicy. 6>: hell
  • 1 clove garlic, skin removed
  • 1.5 tbsp paste sugar, nam tal pip (cane sugar mixed with coconut sugar)
  • 1.5 tsp shrimp paste, belacan (mild). The amount should be reduced for rich, intense shrimp paste.
  • 1 tbsp tamarind water, concentrated, 1 tsp of tamarind pulp + 1 tsp of hot water
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce, Tiparos brand, adjust accordingly to taste
  • 1.5 tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
  • 2 tomatoes, medium sized, optional

Instructions
 

  • Using a peeler, remove the papaya skin. Shred the papaya with a food grater. Set aside.

Sauce

  • In the pestle & mortar, pound both red chillies, green chillies, and garlic, just enough to break them.
  • Add half of the paste sugar and half of the shrimp paste into the mortar. Pound until they are well-combined.
  • Add the concentrated tamarind juice and fish sauce. Slowly stir with a spoon and gently mash the mixture with the pestle until the tamarind juice and fish sauce are well-combined.
  • Cut the lime and squeeze the juice into the mortar. (Optional) add the juiced lime pulp & peel into the mortar.
  • Cut the tomato to slightly larger than bite-size and add them into the mortar.
  • Once again, slowly stir with a spoon and gently mash the mixture with the pestle until the ingredients have been fully coated with the mixture.
  • Taste the mixture. Adjust the taste as desired.

Salad Assembly

  • Add the shredded papaya. Stir lightly and pound gently to coat the papaya with the mixture.
  • Taste the papaya salad. Adjust the taste as desired.

Video

Notes

  1. A medium/large pestle and mortar is recommended for this recipe as the shredded papaya needs to be pounded, so the green papaya’s flavour is enhanced. Alternatively, mixing the salads in large bowls in possible as well, however, the taste will not be as rich and flavourful.
  2. A food grater can be used to shred the papaya, however, this encourages the papaya to clump together. I used the traditional way of shredding a papaya with a kitchen knife, which allows me to produce slightly thicker and firmer papaya strips.
  3. Keep the lime at room temperature, and roll them with the ball of your palm before cutting and squeezing the juices to get maximum juice.
  4. Once shredded, it's best to mix the papaya with a handful of clean, crushed ice, so that the papaya texture is moist and crunchy. The ice will melt by the assembly time, so be sure to drain the water before using the papaya. Don't worry if there are small amounts of ice in the salad. This enhances the texture further with ice and fire in the som tam :D
  5. Ideally use green/young papaya. Papayas with yellowish/reddish firm center are a bonus as those parts adds natural sweetness and crunchy texture to the dish. However, the flesh must be firm so the som tam is crunchy otherwise, the som tam will clump together.
  6. Isaarn people also use vegetables that is crunchy, hard and can be eaten raw, such as long beans, cucumbers, and corn for their som tam. Do note that the preparation methods varies with different vegetables.
  7. How to adjust the taste if you need extra:
    1. Sweetness: add 1 tsp of some white sugar, stir and pound gently until well-combined, and taste again.
    2. Sourness/tanginess: add half a lime of lime juice, stir and pound gently until well-combined, and taste again.
    3. Saltiness: add 1 tsp of fish sauce, stir and pound gently until well-combined, and taste again.
    4. Spiciness: pound more chillis in another pestle and mortar, add to the mixture, stir and pound gently until well-combined, and taste again.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 68kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 3gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 784mgPotassium: 363mgFiber: 3gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 1510IUVitamin C: 74mgCalcium: 39mgIron: 1mg
Keyword easy salads, green papaya, sour, spicy, thai fish sauce
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