This Thai Green Papaya Salad (or Som Tam) is a refreshing and flavorful salad that's full of exotic spicy kick. This salad includes chopped peanuts, cilantro, tomatoes, and sliced green beans.
I don't know about you, but when summer comes, our meat consumption drops dramatically and the fruits and vegetables become the fare of choice. Sometimes, we just use cheese or nuts for the protein necessary for a complete meal.
Shrimp also becomes far more important than it is during the winter months. I go through packages of frozen shrimp and plenty of dried shrimp too. Last week when the temperature soared, I didn't even feel like cooking.
Even though the house has air conditioning, I had to go outside and the heat, even for that short time, killed my appetite. I suppose the five homemade fruit Popsicles I had throughout the afternoon may have also had something to do with it.
Read: Thai Green Curry Mango and Chicken Recipe
Seriously, if you don't own popsicle molds you really need to buy some. I now own enough to make 18 homemade pops at once. I make all kinds from strictly fruit ones to fruit and yogurt pops.
I hide them in the back of the freezer and dole them out to others rather stingily. They're great healthy snacks....but back to the reason, I mentioned my lack of hunger.
Anyway, nothing sounded good and it was getting late. Everyone would want something to eat pretty soon. I looked through my cupboards and the fridge to see what all I had on hand if hoped something would catch my eye.
The papaya did, so that's where I started to search the net to see if anything looked good and used everything I had on hand. I certainly wasn't going back out to pick up something at the grocery, no matter how quickly I could do it.
I found this really interesting green papaya salad that didn't require me to leave the house for anything. I even had palm sugar.
While this dish required a lot of pounding and crushing, the extra effort just helped renew my appetite, which grew as I combined all the ingredients for the salad and smelled their delicious blend of odors.
A word of caution is necessary. Don't overdo it when you crush the dried shrimp, you want pieces, not powder. This salad was a hit and one that I'll add to my list of favorites.
I wouldn't have found it had I not eaten all those homemade popsicles, which reminds me, I think a blueberry kiwi popsicle is calling my name.
I like to add Roast Porchetta on my green papaya salad, oh boy! this makes the Porchetta refreshingly good and doesn't feel greasy at all.
How do you shred green papaya for salad
Wash the papaya and peel the skin properly before slicing in half lengthwise. Once cut open, thoroughly clean out or scrape all the white seeds and pith from the center and discard them. Then, you can use a Mandoline slicer or a large-size cheese shredder and shred the papaya in a large container.
However, in Thailand, they normally shred the green papaya using a knife, hence creating long cuts in the flesh. Then slicing off the top layer and do the same process until all of the papaya is being shredded.
How do you store shredded green papaya?
You can keep the shredded, fresh papaya for up to 2-3 days. In a glass container (with a tight lid), line a paper towel to cover the bottom and place the shredded papaya. Then wrap them around with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture. Store them in the fridge.
However, you can only keep them fresh for a couple of hours once you cut them open. After that time span, they will turn soft or wilted and unappetizing if you leave them at room temperature.
You can keep the green papaya salad in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Once it smells funky, discard it all at once.
Ingredients:
- green papaya (slivered - you can find green papaya in Asian market)
- garlic
- Thai chilies (you can adjust the amount accordingly)
- peanuts or cashews (shelled and roasted)
- fish sauce
- palm sugar (or you can use raw brown sugar)
- limes
- dried shrimp (optional)
- cherry tomatoes (or roma tomato)
- long beans
Instructions
Prep the papaya:
1 Wash the green papaya and peel off the skin using a knife or a peeler. Use a cheese grater to shave the papaya.
Prep the spice paste & Dressing:
2 Add 2 cloves of garlic and 5 chilies to the mortar.
3 Pound them for a few seconds until the garlic is crushed and chilies are reduced to small bits.
4 Add ½ tablespoon of palm sugar, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, and then squeeze the juice from 1 - 2 limes into the mortar. (you can always adjust/balance the flavor according to your liking).
5 Mix and pound the dressing, making sure the palm sugar gets fully dissolved into the liquid.
6 Add one tablespoon of roasted peanuts, 1 tablespoon dried shrimp, and then roughly slice in the tomatoes into the mortar.
7 Pound the mixture for about 30 seconds, lightly breaking up the tomatoes, shrimp, and peanuts.
Prep the salad:
8 Toss in a handful of the green papaya shavings. Mix it all together, doing a combination of using just a spoon and pounding lightly.
9 Make sure the dressing is coating all the green papaya and that the salad is evenly mixed.
10 Serve with additional garnish like basil, long beans or more peanuts.
Full Recipe
Thai Green Papaya Salad
Equipments:
- pestle and mortar
- mandoline slicer or large grater
Ingredients:
- 1 piece green papaya (slivered - you can find green papaya in Asian market)
Spices & Dressing:
- 2 cloves garlic
- 5 Thai chilies (you can adjust the amount accordingly)
- 2 tablespoon peanuts or cashews (shelled and roasted)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or you can use raw brown sugar)
- 2 limes
- 1 tablespoon dried shrimp (optional)
Garnish:
- 2 pieces cherry tomatoes (or roma tomato)
- long beans (cut in 2 inches)
Instructions:
Prep the papaya:
- Wash the green papaya and peel off the skin using a knife or a peeler.
- Use a cheese grater to shave the papaya
Prep the Spice Paste & Dressing:
- Add 2 cloves of garlic and 5 chilies to the mortar.
- Pound them for a few seconds until the garlic is crushed and chilies are reduced to small bits.
- Add ½ tablespoon of palm sugar, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, and then squeeze the juice from 1 - 2 limes into the mortar. (you can always adjust/balance the flavor according to your liking).
- Mix and pound the dressing, making sure the palm sugar gets fully dissolved into the liquid.
- Add one tablespoon of roasted peanuts, 1 tablespoon dried shrimp, and then roughly slice in the tomatoes into the mortar.
- Pound the mixture for about 30 seconds, lightly breaking up the tomatoes, shrimp, and peanuts.
Prep the salad:
- Toss in a handful of the green papaya shavings. Mix it all together, doing a combination of using just a spoon and pounding lightly.
- Make sure the dressing is coating all the green papaya and that the salad is evenly mixed.
- Serve with additional garnish like basil, long beans or more peanuts.
Nutrition Information:
Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.
Leigh says
I had green papaya salad while visiting Thailand and I looked at this recipe and thought it kinda similar. The fish sauce and lime are perfect, fresh Thai chilies work best.. its packed of flavors. I used the shredder in the food processor as I don't want to use the grater.
Jess58 says
I like my salad more spicy so I added serrano red pepper and I liked it even more.
Alexa Andrews says
I used mandolin board to properly julienne the green papaya into thin matchsticks but grater is ok to use as well, just use the large holes and shred as long as possible.
Justine Park says
I added Jalapeno and cabbage however, I couldn't find dried shrimps but still turned out awesome! I will recreate this next time but need to grab some ingredients first.
Shiela Mae says
Yum! Yum! This is one of my favorite Thai dishes.. Packed of flavors.. sure to win over the heart of my vegan hubby.