Green papaya salad is a Northeastern Thai / Lao / Cambodian spicy salad made from shredded unripe papaya. Locally known as som tam. it was listed at number 46 on World's 50 most delicious foods complied by CNN Go in 2011.
In Thailand, it is customary that a customer ask the preparer to make the dish suited to his or her tastes. To specifically refer to the dish as prepared traditionally in Laos or Isan.
Traditionally the local variety of Som Tam in the streets of Bangkok is very hot due to the addition of a fistfull of chopped hot Thai Chili, however with its rising popularity among tourists, it is often served now not as hot.
The Central Thai version (som tam Thai) tends to be mild in comparison and much sweeter; it often contains crushed peanuts. There are many versions of this salad but it will always include unripe papaya…such as “Thai Papaya Salad with Salted Egg (Som Tam Khai-Khem)” The original one is "Som Tam Poo" or "Papaya salad with fermented crab" please follow the link for the recipe.
Ingredients :
- 1 cup papaya shredded
- 1-3 chilies (your taste)
- 2-3 garlic glove
- 1 tomato sliced
- 2 long bean lines cut 1” lengths
- 1 Salted Egg cut into 4 pieces
- 1 tbsp. fish sauce
- 1-2 lemon
- 1 tsp. palm sugar
- Fresh vegetables (side dishes)
- In a mortar pound chilies and garlic together then place long bean cut into a mortar and continue to pound.
- Poor a handful of shredded papaya and continue to pound 1-2 times.
- Add fish sauce, lemon, palm sugar and all shredded papaya then pound 2-3 till all the ingredients mixed well together.
- Place in a serving plate and top with salted egg.
- Served with sticky rice and fresh vegetables.