Recipe: Som Tum Thai (Green Papaya Salad) – BC

Som Tum Thai (Green Papaya Salad)

Recipe by: Chef Angus An, Sainam

SERVES: 2

Sainam, a restaurant dedicated to highlighting the flavours of Thailand’s Isaan region, has seven green papaya salad variations on its menu. Green papaya salad, a dish the Isaan region is famous for, is known for its bold, robust, and sharp flavours. This recipe is a classic version, known as Som Tum Thai.

Ingredients

2-3 red Thai bird’s eye chilies

1-2 garlic cloves

Pinch of coarse sea salt

2 Tbsp palm sugar

2 Tbsp dried prawns

1 Tbsp roasted peanuts, skinned

1 Tbsp Tamarind Water (page 233)

1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

Fish sauce, to taste

1 cup shredded green papaya

⅛ cup sliced long beans, cut into

1-inch lengths

4 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 Tbsp shredded carrot

Method

1. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the chilies and garlic together into a fine paste, using a pinch of salt as an abrasive. Add the palm sugar, dried prawns, and roasted peanuts, and pound everything together until it becomes a coarse paste. Add the tamarind water, lime juice, and fish sauce to complete the dressing, and stir with the pestle until fully incorporated.

2. Add the green papaya, long beans, cherry tomatoes, and carrot and pound lightly to bruise and soften them so they can absorb the dressing. then toss to combine with the paste. Alternatively, if your mortar and pestle isn’t large enough to handle all the ingredients, you can use a pestle with a large mixing bowl for the vegetables. The finished salad should taste sour, salty, lightly sweet, and hot.