Som Tum Recipe

Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)

1. 1

   Prepare the papaya and vegetables

   Peel the green papaya with a vegetable peeler. Using a julienne peeler or a mandoline set to a thin julienne, shred the papaya into long thin strips. Place the shredded papaya in a large bowl of cold water (optional) to keep crisp while you prepare other ingredients, then drain and pat dry. Peel and julienne the carrot the same way (if using). Trim the long beans and cut into 1–1.5 inch (2.5–4 cm) pieces. Halve the cherry tomatoes.

2. 2

   Prepare pounding mortar (if using)

   Traditionally som tum is made in a large mortar and pestle. If you don't have one, use a large sturdy bowl and the handle of a wooden spoon or a heavy rolling pin to lightly bruise ingredients.

3. 3

   Make the dressing

   In the mortar (or a small bowl), add the garlic cloves and bird’s eye chilies. Lightly pound a few times just to bruise and release flavors (do not pulverize). Add the palm sugar and dried shrimp, then lightly pound again to break up the sugar and rehydrate the shrimp. Add the fish sauce and lime juice and stir/pound to dissolve the sugar into a balanced sweet-sour-salty dressing. Taste and adjust: target a bright balance—salty from fish sauce, sour from lime, sweet from sugar. Add up to 1/4 tsp extra salt if needed.

4. 4

   Combine salad components

   Add the halved cherry tomatoes and cut green beans into the mortar and lightly crush them 3–4 times—enough to release juices but not smash them to mush. Add the shredded papaya (and carrot) to the mortar in batches, using a light pounding and tossing motion with the pestle to mix the dressing thoroughly into the papaya and slightly bruise the papaya so it absorbs flavor. If using a bowl instead of a mortar, pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss vigorously, pressing gently with the back of a spoon or rolling pin to bruise the tomatoes and beans.

5. 5

   Finish and adjust seasoning

   Taste the salad and adjust: add more fish sauce for saltiness, more lime for acidity, more palm sugar for sweetness, or additional chilies for heat. If the salad seems dry, add up to 1 tsp of water or a little extra lime juice. Stir in the crushed roasted peanuts, saving a pinch for garnish. Optionally drizzle 1 tsp of extra palm sugar syrup for gloss and slight extra sweetness.

6. 6

   Serve

   Transfer som tum to a serving plate. Sprinkle remaining crushed peanuts and garnish with cilantro or Thai basil if using. Serve immediately with sticky rice, grilled chicken, or as part of a Thai meal.