Green Papaya Salad - Som Tum
by dawndillman
Green papaya salad is the most popular dish among women in Thailand according to a survey I heard on TV there. It is a Northeastern food that is eaten with sticky rice and other Northeastern dishes such as laab, beef salad and bamboo shoot salad.
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INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 tbs Sugar ; palm sugar
- 3/4 Lime ; Juiced
- 2 cups Green Papaya ; shredded
- 6 Green Beans
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 1/2 tbs Fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dried Shrimp
- 2 Chili peppers
- 5 Cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons Peanuts ; toasted
INSTRUCTIONS
Many Asian supermarkets have shredded green papaya and that is what I use. However, if you can only find whole green papaya, the papaya can be peeled and shreded using a regular cheese grater with medium to large sized holes. When you get closer to the center, you will see the white immature seeds inside. Stop and move onto another part of the papaya. Discard any seeds that got into your bowl.
In Thailand, green papaya salad is made using a clay mortar, wooden pestle and a spatula. Smash a clove of garlic first. Then add green beans and halved cherry tomatoes. Pound a few times just to bruise the beans and get the juice out of the tomatoes. Add chili peppers and crush them just enough to release the hotness, unless you like your salad really hot. Add the green papaya, dried shrimp, toasted peanuts, fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. Use the pestle to push the mixture up in the mortar and the spatula to push it down so that the mixture is mixed well.
However, if you do not have a big enough mortar you can crush garlic, tomatoes, green beans. Set them aside in a large bowl. Add dried shrimp, fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar to the bowl. Add green papaya and mix well. Serve with sticky rice and a sliver of cabbage, green beans and Thai basil.
NOTES
Tips and substitutions
For a vegetarian som tum, omit the dried shrimp and substitute soy sauce for fish sauce.
Some people use tamarind in place of lime. Regular sugar can be substituted for palm sugar. I normally omit the peanuts because I prefer it without.
The balance of fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and peppers listed here are guidelines. Som tum is an individual dish that you will find you might like yours with more, say, lime juice than what the recipe calls for.
For som tum pbooh, omit the dried shrimp and toasted peanuts and add salted crabs instead. I microwave the salted crabs for 30 seconds before adding them to the papaya salad to kill any residual bacteria. Add only half of the fish sauce called for because the salted crab can be quite salty.
The two most popular types of green papaya salad have either dried shrimp or salted crab. Green papaya salad with dried shrimp and peanuts is called som tum thai. The green papaya salad with salted crab is called som tum pbooh. The majority of the ingredients are the same. My mother likes it with both dried shrimp and salted crab.
Nutrition
View line-by-line Nutrition Insights™: Discover which ingredients contribute the calories/sodium/etc.
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| Serving Size: 1 Serving (316g) | ||
| Recipe Makes: 2 Servings | ||
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| Calories: 193 | ||
| Calories from Fat: 34 (18%) | ||
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| Amt Per Serving | % DV | |
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| Total Fat 3.8g | 5 % | |
| Saturated Fat 0.6g | 3 % | |
| Monounsaturated Fat 1.6g | ||
| Polyunsanturated Fat 1.2g | ||
| Cholesterol 10.6mg | 3 % | |
| Sodium 1171.1mg | 40 % | |
| Potassium 749.1mg | 20 % | |
| Total Carbohydrate 37.8g | 11 % | |
| Dietary Fiber 6.2g | 25 % | |
| Sugars, other 31.5g | ||
| Protein 6.7g | 10 % | |
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Powered by: USDA Nutrition Database Disclaimer: Nutrition facts are derived from linked ingredients (shown at left in colored bullets) and may or may not be complete. Always consult a licensed nutritionist or doctor if you have a nutrition-related medical condition. |
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Calories per serving: 193
Get detailed nutrition information, including item-by-item nutrition insights, so you can see where the calories, carbs, fat, sodium and more come from.
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