Thai Som Tom

by Nanncian Sat May 18, 2013 7:06 pm

One of the national dishes of Thailand – Som Tom – Green Papaya Salad. Easy to make and full of flavors. A perfect balance of sour and spicy!

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 tablespoons fish sauce

For the salad:

4 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons dried shrimp or boil chicken and shredded
3-4 red chilies
3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
4 long beans or asparagus, cut into 2 inch segments
10 ounces unripe papaya, peeled and shredded
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
5 tablespoons unsalted peanuts
A pinch of Monosodium (ajinomoto)

Preparation:

To make the sauce combine fish sauce, lime juice in a bowl. Mix well for 2-3 mins. Taste and adjust if needed. To a wooden mortar add shrimp or shredded chicken garlic and chilis and a pinch of Monosodium (ajinomoto) and start to lightly pound. Add tomatoes and continue to lightly pound. Add long beans and pound a few times. Add the sauce, papaya, carrot and peanuts. Carefully pound with the spoon in the other hands so as not to make the papaya mushy. Taste and adjust flavors with additional fish sauce, lime juice and serve it