Som tam is a bright, crunchy Thai salad where green papaya soaks up a salty, tangy, sweet, and spicy sauce. It is served fresh, with roasted peanuts for contrast.
Ingredients
- 600 g grated green papaya
- 200 g cherry tomatoes
- 120 g green beans
- 60 g unsalted roasted peanuts
- 3 pieces limes
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 piece fresh red chili
- 1 clove garlic
- 25 g palm sugar
- to taste fine salt
Method
- Squeeze the limes into a bowl and remove the seeds; the juice should be bright, without any bitterness from crushed pulp.
- Pound the garlic, chili, and palm sugar in a mortar until you have a moist, glossy, and fragrant paste.
- Add the fish sauce and lime juice, then mix with the pestle until the sugar is dissolved and the sauce smells simultaneously salty, sour, and spicy.
- Cut the green beans into segments and pound them briefly in the sauce; they should bruise open slightly while remaining crunchy.
- Add the cut cherry tomatoes and crush them gently, just enough to release their juices without turning them into a purée.
- Add the grated green papaya and toss it with a spoon while lightly tapping with the pestle; the salad should soften but retain a crisp bite.
- Taste and correct with a pinch of salt if necessary; the balance should be distinctly tangy, salty, a bit sweet, and spicy.
- Transfer to a chilled dish, sprinkle with roasted peanuts, and serve immediately, while the papaya is still crunchy.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 224.2 kcal
- Protein
- 7.07 g
- Carbohydrate
- 33.03 g
- Fat
- 8.25 g
- Fibre
- 7.46 g
- Calcium
- 92.65 mg
- Iron
- 1.07 mg
- Magnesium
- 73.4 mg
