Som Tam is the mother of all salads in Thailand. A traditional Som Tam is made with shredded unripe papaya, fermented crab and fish. There are five main tastes of the local cuisine in this delicious salad: sour, hot and spicy, salty, savory and sweet. The ingredients are mixed and pounded with a mortar and pestle. At our restaurant 'The Food Forest Kitchen" we organize regular workshops Som Tam making! Here is our (vegan) recipe to try it in your own kitchen.
TIP: If you don’t have a mortar & pestle, place the ingredients in a large plastic bag (make sure there’s a cutting board or hard protective layer on top of your counter or table) and pound the contents with a rolling pin or the bottom of a small heavy pan.
SOM TAM: GREEN PAPAYA SALAD
Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Total time: 30 minutes Serves: 4 portions
We make the Som Tam Salad with papaya of course. We just go in our Food Forest and get the fruit right from the tree!! If you do not have a papaya tree nearby, you can replace the papaya in this recipe by carrot or by cucumber. Cucumber should be seeded and dried with some paper towels to prevent a soggy Som Tam salad.
INGREDIENTS
2 Thai bird’s-eye chilies
3-4 garlic cloves
2 cups unripe green papaya (or carrot, or cucumber)
½ cup long beans or regular green beans
½ cup carrots
2 tomatoes
2 tablespoons unsalted roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves (optional)
2 tablespoons Thai basil leaves (optional)
For the Sauce:
½ tablespoon tamarind concentrate mixed with 1 tablespoon warm water
¼ cup lime juice (about 3 limes)
¼ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons palm sugar (or sugarcane sugar if you cannot get palm sugar)
EQUIPMENT
Mortar and pestle
Big spoon
Plate for serving
PREPARATION
Seeded the chili if you do not want the Som Tam to be too spicy
Clean the garlic cloves
Peeled, seed and grade the papaya (or cucumber or carrot) in strips, about 2-3 inches long
Green beans stem ends trimmed and cut in 1½-inch long segments
Grade the carrot
Quarter the tomatoes
Chop the cilantro roughly
Chop the basil leaves coarsely
Mix the tamarind concentrate with 1 tablespoon warm water
Squeeze the lime
METHOD
Pound garlic and chilies together in a mortar and pestle until they form a chunky paste. TIP: Place your hand over the mortar to prevent pieces of chili flying out in your eyes!
Add the beans and pound well to bruise.
Follow with the green papaya (or cucumber/carrot) and graded carrot.
Stir well with a big spoon and pound to bruise the vegetables so that they absorb the heat and flavor of the chilies and garlic.
Add the ingredients for the sauce and continue to pound a bit more and use the spoon for tossing while pounding.
Add tomatoes, stir and lightly pound to slightly bruise them.
Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle the peanuts, cilantro and Thai basil leaves over the top and serve.