Som Tum: Green Papaya Salad
This is a dish of sharp contrasts. You need firm, unripened papaya and a heavy mortar to properly extract the juices from the tomatoes and chilies to coat every strand.
Texture is the only thing that matters.
Buy the greenest, hardest papaya you can find. If it has even a hint of orange or sweetness, the texture will turn mushy under the pestle.
- large clay or wooden mortar and pestle
- julienne peeler or sharp knife
- kitchen scale
What goes in.
- 300ggreen papaya, julienned
- 2bird's eye chilies
- 2cloves garlic
- 3long beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tbsppalm sugar
- 2 tbspfish sauce
- 2 tbspfresh lime juice
- 1 tbspdried shrimp
- 1 tbsproasted peanuts
Pound, don't mash.
Use a rhythmic, gentle pounding motion to release the juices from the chili and garlic. Follow this by lightly tapping the long beans until they soften just enough to absorb the dressing.
The method.
Prepare the aromatic base
Drop the garlic and bird's eye chilies into the mortar. Pound them until they form a coarse paste.
Build the dressing
Add the palm sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice. Grind with the pestle until the sugar dissolves into the liquid.
Incorporate the vegetables
Add the long beans and dried shrimp. Give them a few firm taps to break their surface, then add the cherry tomatoes and lightly crush them to release their juices into the mix.
Toss and bruise
Add the julienned papaya. Use the pestle to gently lift and turn the mixture while pressing down slightly on the papaya strands. Do this for 30 seconds until the papaya looks translucent and coated in the dark dressing.
Finish
Stir in the roasted peanuts by hand and serve immediately before the papaya loses its crispness.
Other turns to take.
Som Tum Thai
The standard version listed above, using lime and palm sugar.
Som Tum Pla Ra
Substitute the fish sauce for fermented fish sauce (pla ra) for a deeper, more pungent flavor profile.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Keep your julienne of papaya uniform; irregular chunks will soak up dressing at different rates, leading to uneven texture.
If your mortar is small, do the work in two batches to ensure everything gets bruised evenly.
Do not let the salad sit; the acid in the lime will turn the papaya soft if it waits longer than five minutes.
The ones that keep coming up.
Can I use a food processor to shred the papaya?
You can, but the processor creates more surface area and can make the papaya water-logged. A sharp knife or a julienne peeler keeps the strands firm.
What if I cannot find green papaya?
Green mango or even very firm, unripe Granny Smith apples can be used in a pinch to maintain the necessary crunch.
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