Thai green papaya salad (som tum or som tam) is a classic Thai salad made with green papaya and a tasty dressing that has plenty of sour, sweet and spice flavor. It's easy to make, refreshing and delicious. No wonder it's so popular.
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Green papaya salad is something you will find on pretty much every Thai restaurant's menu, and you'll also find it all over in Thailand as well. It's one of those few dishes you'll find just as much in a fancy hotel as at a roadside stall.
The flavors are certainly so good, it's easy to see why it's really popular, and it's also easy to make at home too. It makes a great addition to many meals and is particularly great in summer.
What is green papaya?
Green papaya is simply unripe papaya that is used as an ingredient in itself in Southeast Asia. It's crisper and not as sweet, so almost treated like more of a vegetable.While it is called green, the flesh is not always green in color - sometimes it is more of a pale yellow/orange color. When buying one, the skin should be completely green and the fruit should be firm and heavy feeling.
I often find it a bit tricky to find a truly green papaya here since it's not a local ingredient. You find them more readily in an Asian supermarket, but even still, some can be more ripe than you ideally want. However using as unripe as you can find is about the best you can do. You may just find it a bit trickier to shred when more ripe as the flesh will be softer.
Where is green papaya salad from?
This salad's origins can actually be traced to Laos, rather than Thailand. Though that said, the border area with Thailand's Isan region has moved over the years. The Thai versions that you tend to find around the globe, as described here, are a later adaptation as people emigrated from Laos, particularly during the Vietnam war.
The Thai name "som tum" (or som tam) translates as "pounded sour" as you traditionally pound the dressing ingredients together, and there are plenty sour notes in there.
How do Lao and Thai versions differ?
While you will find variations within the country as well, there are a few key differences between Thai and Lao versions of this salad. All versions include green papaya, tomatoes, lime, Thai red chili and sugar. Then other additions vary from there.
Lao green papaya salad has minimal additions, apart from in the sauce. The sauce typically includes padaek, a fermented fish paste, and nam pu, a fermented crab paste/dip. Both have a pretty strong flavor and smell, so you only use small quantities.
The strength of flavor is likely part of why the flavors were adapted in Thai versions, as well as availability. Thai versions tend to to be milder, using fish sauce and sometimes more sugar for the sauce. They also add other ingredients like green beans, shrimp (often dried) and roasted peanuts (similar to other Thai salads like pomelo salad).
Thai versions also vary within the country, with some swapping the dried shrimp for salted crab (som tum boo) or making other additions. This version is sometimes called som tum Thai and is a bit like the 'core' version. It's what you most typically see outside of the country, as well as within Thailand itself.
How to serve this salad
In Thailand, you might have this as a snack in itself, or make it into a light lunch. To make it a little more substantial, you can serve it with some sticky rice on the side. While a little less typical, it's also great with things like chicken larb, grilled chicken or pork.
You can also make a light meal of small plates with salads like this and spring rolls or fritters, for example.
Thai green papaya salad is a delicious and relatively simple mix of ingredients that have so much wonderful flavor going on. With a mix of sweet, sour and spicy, the dressing brings the ingredients to life. It also has a great range of textures. In other words, it's popular for good reason, and should definitely be on your menu soon.
Try these other Southeast Asian salads:
- Thai pomelo salad (Lao crispy rice salad, a tasty mix of soft and crisp rice, herbs, nuts and more)
- Urap sayur (a delicious Indonesian dish of vegetables with a spicy-tart coconut topping)
- Luang Prabang salad (a simple greens-based salad with egg yolk dressing)
- Plus get more Southeast Asian recipes and side dish recipes in the archives.
Thai green papaya salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups papaya unripe/green, or unripe mango
- 1 red chili roughly chopped (or more/less to taste, see notes)
- 1 clove garlic roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or palm sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- 6 green beans
- 1 tablespoon dried shrimp
- 1 lime juice ie from 1 lime, or a little less
- 2 tablespoon roasted unsalted peanuts
Instructions
- Peel and deseed the papaya and cut into matchstick pieces (either with a mandolin, by scoring then using a wide peeler or roughly by hand).
- Ideally with a pestle and mortar, crush together the chili, garlic and sugar until the sugar dissolves and everything is largely a paste. Halve the cherry tomatoes and cut the beans into around 1 ½ - 2 inch (3 - 5cm) lengths.
- Add the fish sauce, tomatoes, beans and dried shrimp to the chili-sugar mixture and crush together so that the tomatoes release their juices. Add the lime juice and papaya, if your pestle and mortar is big enough, or else pour the mixture over the papaya in a bowl if not. Gently crush together.
- Add the peanuts and mix together. Check the seasoning and add additional lime, fish sauce or chili as needed then serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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