SOM TUM (THAI GREEN PAPAYA SALAD)

Som Tum (Thai Green Papaya Salad) is up there on my most favorite Thai northeastern food, which I consider a food group. ha! It’s known as “Papaya Pok Pok” to the foreigners in Thailand. Pok Pok is the sound of pounding the Papaya Salad in a mortar and pestle.

There are 4 regions in Thailand; North, Northeast, Central, and South. The North’s climate is cooler and they are known for fresh fruit and veggies, their food is typically milder. The Central, where the capital city of Bangkok is and where I’m from, has the advantage of being in the middle. Many people from all around come to Bangkok for jobs, and they bring their culture and food. The South, where my dad’s from, has the most spicy and awesome seafood because they are closest to the ocean. Last but not least, the Northeast, is the most remote area for tourists and is known for unusual things like fried insects, bugs, etc. They have bright and bold flavors, sticky rice, dried and grilled meat and this Som Tum (Thai Green Papaya Salad).

Thai people just love food in general, here’s a picture of some feast we had at my aunt’s house when we visited her in 2020 and told her we were not that hungry. She’s no longer with us and I miss her and her cooking so much. She was the best!

We usually eat Som Tum with sticky rice, grilled chicken or pork and meat salad. See my other recipes for the complete Thai northeastern feast.

Moo Yang (Thai Grilled Pork) – the best grilled pork in my opinion (you can try with chicken).

Grilled Asian Chicken Wings – another alternative for protein or do both. Why not?

Nam Jim Jaw (Thai Chili Sauce) – perfect sauce to dip your Moo Yang (Thai Grilled Pork) or chicken.

Sticky Rice – this is the recipe for sweet sticky rice, so don’t add the coconut milk/syrup

Larb (Thai Meat Salad) – to complete the Thai northeastern feast.

Speaking of Som Tum (Thai Green Papaya Salad), just like other Thai “salad”, they’re called salad but they are not a typical western salad. They are fresh with bright flavors, sweet, salty and sour. The key of course is spicy, but if you can’t take the heat, don’t add too much chilis. You do you! And don’t forget to have a glass of milk close by, just in case. ha ha.

All of these ingredients can be found at your local Asian grocery store. Take one trip, get them all or go to amazon.com, I have the links below for many things you can get from there.

For the main ingredient, papaya, it’s not the orange ripe papaya. We use green, which is before it’s ripe, is firm and crunchy. If you can’t find it, carrot or jicama (if you can find jicama, I think it might be harder to find than green papaya?) should be o.k. Peel, seed it, then shed with a box cheese grater or food processor.

I used Asian long green beans, which in fact, is a completely different plant family from green beans. Apart from their extraordinary length, they are similar in flavor. If you can’t find the long green beans, regular green beans are fine.

Dried shrimp are tiny salty shrimp that add that umami flavor to Som Tum. They are usually in the refrigerated section in an air sealed bag.

Palm sugar come in disks, or some in a big jar. If you can’t find it, use brown sugar.

Fish sauce adds that umami flavor to the dish. Do NOT skip it. You won’t know it’s there, but you will know if it’s not. Trust me!

Tamarind paste (tamarind concentrate) is the same as I use in Pad Thai, Nam Jim Jaw (Thai Chili Sauce) and Salmon with Tamarind Sauce. It’s tangy and a little sweet, which has a different flavor than lime juice.

Thai chilis are tiny and packed with heat, so handle them carefully. If you can’t find them, use Serrano chilis. I also used the dried chilis (the dried version of Thai chilis – totally optional).

Other ingredients are the common stuff that you know (I hope ha!), peanuts, tomatoes, fresh lime juice and garlic.

I think I covered all the ingredients. Let’s cook some food! Actually… there is no cooking here, just pounding and mixing things in a mortar!

In a large mortar, pound garlic and chilis with a pestle until there are no more big chunks (pieces of chili skin are fine).

Add dried shrimp and peanuts and pound to break the peanuts up slightly.

Add the long beans or green beans and pound just until they’re slightly broken.

Add palm sugar, mash until it turns into a paste and all the chunks are dissolved.

Add tomato wedges or cherry tomatoes, mash gently until they release the juice.

Add fish sauce, lime juice and tamarind paste.

Add shredded papaya.

Mix using the pestle to pound and large spoon to mix everything together.

That’s it! Hope you enjoy this Som Tum (Thai Green Papaya Salad) as much as we do. The recipe card and comment box are below.