Thailand · Thai Isan and central cuisine (salads)
Som tam (Thai green papaya salad)
A crunchy, fiery Thai salad of shredded green papaya, long beans and tomatoes pounded in a mortar with garlic, chillies, palm sugar, lime and fish sauce, with roasted peanuts and dried shrimp.
Cookhuddle Editorial Cookhuddle | Thailand
Editorial selection: recipes cross-checked against several documentary sources. They have not been tested in our kitchen: follow the precautions given and adapt times to your own oven.
original Original text, written in English.
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- Servings
- 4
- Preparation
- 25 min
- Cooking
- 0 min
- Total
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
Cuisine / tradition: Thai Isan and central cuisine (salads) (TH) — declared by the author
- Salad
- Side dish
- No cooking
Ingredients
For 4 servings
- 3 clove garlic cloves
- 3 piece bird's eye chillies (to taste)
- 3 tbsp palm sugar, finely chopped or grated
- 40 g roasted unsalted peanuts
- 100 g long beans or green beans, in 3 cm pieces
- 1 tsp tamarind paste
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 4 tbsp lime juice (about 2 limes)
- 400 g green (unripe) papaya, peeled and shredded
- 10 piece cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbsp dried shrimp
- 1 handful fresh coriander leaves, torn, to garnish
Method
- Step 1. Peel the green papaya and shred it into long thin strands with a shredder or a sharp knife. Soak the papaya in cold water for 10 minutes, if you like, then drain it well and dry it, to make it crisper. Cut the beans into 3 cm pieces and halve the tomatoes.
- Step 2. In a large mortar pound the garlic and the chillies to a coarse paste. Add the palm sugar and pound to a paste, scraping the bottom with a spoon, as it resists for a while.
- Step 3. Add the peanuts and bruise them with a few blows until they start to crumble, then add the beans and bruise them a few times.
- Step 4. Stir in the tamarind paste, the lime juice and the fish sauce until the sugar has dissolved and the beans are coated.
- Step 5. Add the papaya, the tomatoes and the dried shrimp and bruise gently with a few blows of the pestle, turning with a spoon, so that the papaya absorbs the dressing and stays crunchy.
- Step 6. Taste: it should be hot, sour, salty and sweet. Adjust with more lime, fish sauce, sugar or chilli. Serve immediately, scattered with coriander, with sticky rice or grilled chicken, as the salad goes limp within 20 to 30 minutes.
Story and cultural note
Som tam is the Thai green papaya salad, and tam means to pound: it is made in a mortar, where the garlic, chillies and palm sugar are pounded into a paste and the beans, papaya and tomatoes are bruised with the dressing so that they absorb the flavours. The sources agree on green papaya, long beans, tomatoes, peanuts, lime, fish sauce and palm sugar, with dried shrimp in many recipes, and on balancing hot, sour, salty and sweet. They note that the papaya should stay tender but crunchy and that the salad goes limp 20 to 30 minutes after it is dressed.
Tips for success
Shred the papaya in long thin strands and bruise it only lightly: it should stay crunchy. Pound in the right order: garlic and chillies, then sugar, then peanuts and beans, then the liquids, then papaya and tomatoes. Balance hot, sour, salty and sweet before serving, and serve right away.
Serving and presentation
Serve from the mortar or on a plate with sticky rice, grilled chicken and fresh cabbage or long bean leaves, scattered with coriander and extra peanuts.
Diet and allergens
Information declared by the author. CookHuddle does not verify or certify it. If you have an allergy, check the ingredients yourself.
DietDairy-freeGluten-freeEgg-free
ContainsPeanutsFishCrustaceans
