Easy Thai Green Papaya Salad | Quick Som Tam Recipe

Crisp, crunchy and refreshing - this quick, healthy Thai green papaya salad with juicy tomatoes and a sweet-and-hot dressing hits all the right flavor notes while being lighter on the calorie count.

Prep Time20

Total Time20

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Thai

Servings:

Calories: 230kcal

Author: Sonia

Ingredients

400 g raw green papaya small, peeled
2-3 green chilies or 3 Thai bird's eye chili, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic peeled
100 g long beans or barbatti, cut in 1 inch sections
150 g cherry tomatoes halved
1 tbsp tamarind paste
4 tbsp peanuts roasted
2 tbsp jaggery powder or brown sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce optional, see notes
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt, to taste

Instructions

Prep the green papaya

Halve the peeled papaya and scoop out the seeds with a spoon, if any. Choose a shredding method: 1. A spiralizer peeler: Run the spiralizer or julienne peeler down the papaya halves to create long, uniform ribbons. 2. Using a knife (the traditional method): Hold a peeled papaya half firmly with one hand on the chopping board. Holding the knife in the other hand, make quick, shallow slits - say about 0.5 cm deep - down the length of the papaya. Now holding the knife at an 85-degree angle, scrape across the slits with a firm hand. 3. A box grater: Run the papaya halves down the largest holes on the grater with long, steady movements.
There's no wrong choice - all 3 options result in a delicious salad. Choose as per your convenience and availability of tools.

Transfer to ice bath

Add cold water and ice cubes to a bowl and transfer the prepped papaya into the same. The cold water helps remove extra starch and keeps the shredded papaya crispy and crunchy.

Crush the roasted peanuts

Add the roasted peanuts in the mortar and pound to a rough texture with chunky pieces. Be careful not to crush to a smooth paste. Set aside. Reserve some to add on top.

Make the dressing in the mortar

Add peeled garlic cloves and roughly chopped chilies to the mortar and crush into a rough paste.
Now add the chopped beans and crush using the pestle to press them against the wall - until they're bruised. Do not pound into a smooth paste - we need the pieces to be visible.
Add lime juice, jaggery powder, soy sauce and fish sauce (optional).
Taste and adjust the flavors here. It should have all four flavors - sweet, sour, spicy from chilies and salty. Adjust in the direction you find lacking, if any.

Remove papaya from ice bath

Lay the papaya strands on kitchen towels to blot them thoroughly. Press firmly into the towels to remove all excess water. Any remnant water in them would make the salad watery, so take your time.

Build the Salad

Add dressing first, followed by the crushed peanuts. Next, add cherry tomatoes, squeezing them lightly as you drop them so that the juices pool over the dressing.
Add the shredded papaya. Mix well with salad spoons so that the dressing coats the strands evenly.

Serve fresh!

Sprinkle some crushed peanuts on top and serve.

Nutrition