The Som Tum, or green papaya salad is a dish with spices and very spicy in salad format. It is served cold, and we can find it especially in the northwestern region of Thailand, in the Isaan region.
It is a very spicy dish, which as main ingredients has green papaya, tomato, garlic, chili, fish sauce, chicken or seafood. Multiple spices and condiments, such as tamarind pulp or dried shrimp pasta.
It has hundreds of variations, so we better explore for ourselves the different recipes that we can find. It comes from Laos and the Isaan region.
The name som tam comes from the isaan dialect: som means "sour" and tam means "to hit"
Another name by which it is known is: papaya pok pok, because of the noise that occurs with the mortar when it is prepared.
Thai culture has spicy food as a hallmark.
If you are a foreigner and do not usually eat very spicy, I advise you to order it with a single chili or a half, lest you not even try the salad.
Ingredients
- Grated green papaya (no madura)
- Garlic (2-3 dientes)
- Red or green chillies (Usually bird's eye, to taste)
- Green beans (Cut into pieces of about 3-4 cm)
- Tomates cherry (Cut in half)
- Lime juice (1-2 limes)
- Palm sugar (Can be replaced by brown sugar if not found)
- Fish sauce (nam pla) – for the salty flavour
- Toasted peanuts (Slightly crushed)
- Dried shrimps (Optional, depending on the variant)
- Crush garlic and chilli peppers In a mortar (traditional made of wood or clay).
- Green beans Cut and To crush lightly.
- Add cherry tomatoes, Dried shrimps (Opcional) y Palm sugar. Crush a little more to mix flavours.
- Grated green papaya And mix well with a spoon while gently pounding.
- To dress with fish sauce and Lime juice To taste.
- Sprinkle with roasted peanuts Before serving.
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