Som Tum Papaya Salad

Som Tum is a fiery, tangy raw green papaya salad from Northeastern Thailand, pounded in a mortar with lime juice, fish sauce, palm sugar, and chiles until the dressing coats every shred. Crunchy green beans, tomatoes, and roasted peanuts add texture against the sour-salty-sweet-spicy dressing.

By YumYum Editorial · Thai

Prep: 20 min · Total: 20 min · Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 cups shredded green (unripe) papaya
• 3-6 Thai bird's eye chiles, to taste
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp (optional)
• 2 tbsp palm sugar
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup long beans or green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely crushed
• to taste lettuce leaves and raw cabbage wedges, for serving

Instructions

1. Peel and shred green papaya into thin matchsticks using a mandoline or traditional papaya shredder.
2. In a large mortar, pound garlic and chiles together into a coarse paste.
3. Add dried shrimp and pound briefly to break it up slightly.
4. Add palm sugar and pound until it begins to dissolve into the paste.
5. Add fish sauce, lime juice, and tamarind paste, stirring with the pestle to combine into a dressing.
6. Add green beans and cherry tomatoes, bruising them gently with the pestle to release juices, not pulverizing them.
7. Add the shredded papaya in batches, pounding and tossing with a spoon between additions so the dressing coats every strand.
8. Taste and adjust: more lime for sour, more fish sauce for salt, more sugar for sweet, more chile for heat.
9. Transfer to a serving plate, top with crushed peanuts, and serve with lettuce leaves and raw cabbage for scooping.