Thai Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum) Recipe by Kris Yenbamroong
The main draw of this dish is the dressing rather than the papaya, so feel free to experiment with other ingredients like shredded green cabbage, radish, cucumber, or unpeeled green apples (just make sure to soak the latter in water and some lime juice after julienning to prevent it from turning brown). Alternately, omit the green papaya entirely and add more green beans, tomatoes, and carrots.
When making papaya salad, a mortar and pestle is ideal. The heavy-duty granite variants are used for curry pastes; find a lightweight one made of clay or plastic. Your aim should be to bruise the ingredients to unleash their essence without damaging them, much like sushi chefs or bartenders would slap herbs before serving them. You may still make a fantastic papaya salad if, for whatever reason, you are unable to obtain a mortar and pestle. The dressing will be made in a food processor or blender first, then transferred to a big bowl where the "bruising" will take place.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Fish sauce and coconut sugar should be combined in a pot and cooked over low heat while stirring until the sugar has melted and the sauce has started to slightly thicken. Fish sauce syrup should be taken off the heat and allowed to cool.
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Mortar and pestle
Assemble your mise en place in the following sequence before beginning the second step of the mortar and pestle method: garlic, chiles, green beans, carrot, green papaya, fish sauce syrup, lime juice, peanuts, and tomatoes. Use your dominant hand to hold the pestle and the other hand holds the spoon. You should push the pestle down the sides of the mortar rather than beating it flat. Add the garlic and mash it up until it resembles coarse pulp. Add the chillies; pound them vigorously for a hot dish or gradually for a milder one. Add the green papaya, green beans, and carrots, lightly crushing each with the pestle and stirring for ten seconds after each addition. Add the lime juice and fish sauce syrup, mix it for 10 more seconds. Repeat after adding the tomatoes and peanuts. Other from the chiles and garlic, everything in the mortar should be bruised but intact. Don't pound too hard. At this point, you can add a few other ingredients and whisk them in while adjusting the seasoning as necessary.
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Bowl Method
In a blender or food processor, combine the fish sauce syrup, lime juice, garlic, and chiles. Blend until the garlic and chiles are completely chopped up. This is your som tum dressing, which you may chill before assembling the salad. Combine the papaya, carrots, and dressing in a mixing basin. Mix, squeeze, and toss the chopped salad with your hands to soak the dressing and replicate the bruising of the mortar and pestle. The peanuts should be lightly crushed before being added with tomatoes. Serve the salad with sticky rice after transferring it to a platter
