Som Tum (Green papaya salad)

Som Tum (Green papaya salad) is a popular, easy, authentic and delicious Isaan dish. We shred the papaya either with a shredder (the best result comes from the one you can buy at Asian stores) or by knife. There is an authentic special knife technique that I really don’t have the words to explain. It’s very impressive, but as is common for impressive things, very difficult and dangerous. You want long strips, so be creative if you don’t have a good shredder.

Som Tum comes in many varieties. Some of the popular ones have fermented fish paste (som tum plaa raa) or fruits (som tum ponlamai). This is the standard basic Som Tum recipe that is very easy to adapt for your own preference. Now green papaya is very expensive in Sweden (but very cheap in Thailand) and so we encourage you to just pair the dressing with other vegetables. Look out for more som tum variations in the future at Just Lagom. First though, try making this Thai dish at home with this easy to follow recipe.

P.s. Som Tum is traditionally paired with sticky rice, Larb or Nam Tok Mhoo! IT’S THE BEST WAY TO EAT IT!

Som tum (Green papaya salad)

Recipe by Just LagomCourse: MainCuisine: Thai

Servings

2-3

Servings

Ingredients

• 1 green papaya

• 1 carrot

• chilies (to taste)

• 3 cloves of garlic (peeled)

• 2 tbsp dried shrimps

• 2 stems of long bean

• 10 cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

• 2 limes

• 2 tbsp tamarind juice (optional)

• 4 tbsp palm sugar

• 3 tbsp fish sauce

• crushed peanuts

Instructions

• Peel and shred green papaya and carrot into thin strips.
• In a big mortar, add garlic, chillies and dried shrimp. Break in the long beans. Pound all of them a couple of times for the juices and flavour to come out.
• Add shredded papaya and carrot, pound and mix well. Add peanuts and served.
• In the mortar, add fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind juice, lime juice and tomatoes, mix until sugar dissolves.
• Alternative
• If you don’t have big motar, you can mix all the seasoning in a small mortar (step 2-3), then pour the dressing over shredded papaya, carrots and tomatoes in a large mixing bowl. Toss until well mixed, sprinkle peanuts and serve.