Som Tum/ Green Papaya Salad

Som tum is a popular Thai salad made with green papaya, spicy chili pepper and fish sauce dressing. Its a popular street food dish in Bangkok and the whole process is made using a mortar and pestle, but then if you do not have it you can make it using a food processor. The main beauty of this dish is shredding the papaya. You can do that with help of your sharp knife by deeply scoring the flesh, then run your knife just under the surface to release the shreds and continue the same process, else a large grater will work too.

Ingredients

Julienned green papaya - 1 1/2 cups

Garlic 2 cloves

Ripe chillies 2

Palm sugar 1 1/2 tablespoon

Long beans 2 cut into pieces

Roasted peanuts 4 tablespoon

Dried shrimp 2 tablespoon

Lemon juice 2 tablespoon

Tamarind juice 2 tablespoon

Fish sauce 2 teaspoons

Tomato cut into wedges

How to Start

Julienne or grate the papaya as mentioned above. Soak the papaya in ice cold water for 10 to 15 minutes until it turns firm. Drain the soaked papaya well.

In a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chilies until they are mashed well. Now add palm sugar and until it turns into a thick paste. Add long beans and pound until they are broken

Add dried shrimp, peanuts and slightly break the peanuts. Now add fish sauce, tamarind juice, and lime juice, and mix well.

Transfer this mixture into a wide bowl and add shredded papaya and tomatoes. Mix well and pound a little so that the tomato releases its juice. Sprinkle some more peanuts on top and serve fresh.