Crunchy Som Tum Green Papaya Salad
Shredded green papaya pounded in a mortar with garlic, chilies, and long beans, then dressed in a punchy lime-fish sauce-palm sugar dressing that sings with sweet, sour, salty, and spicy notes all at once. Every bite is an explosion of crunch and brightness that defines Thai street food at its best.
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded green papaya (about half a small papaya)
- 4 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 6 long beans (or green beans), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons dried shrimp
+ 9 more ingredients
Instructions
Using a large mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and chilies together into a rough paste.
Add the long beans and lightly bruise them with a few gentle pounds -- you want them cracked but not mushed.
Add the dried shrimp and peanuts. Pound a few more times to break them up slightly.
Add the cherry tomatoes and press them gently to release their juices.
Add the palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, and tamarind paste. Stir and pound lightly to dissolve the sugar and combine the dressing.
Add the shredded green papaya in batches, tossing and lightly pounding to bruise the shreds and help them absorb the dressing. Use a spoon in one hand and the pestle in the other to toss and pound simultaneously.
Taste the dressing clinging to the papaya. Adjust: more lime for sour, more sugar for sweet, more fish sauce for salty, more chilies for heat.
Transfer to a plate and serve immediately with sticky rice and raw cabbage wedges on the side.
Nutrition Estimate
Per serving • Estimated by Blinner AI