Som Tum — Green Papaya Salad

RECIPES, Salads

Som Tum — Green Papaya Salad
Pin
Print

Som Tum — Green Papaya Salad

Servings

2

servings
Cooking time

15

minutes
Total time

15

minutes

Som tum is one of Thailand's most iconic dishes — born in the northeast and now loved across the entire country and far beyond. Shredded green papaya is pounded in a mortar and pestle with chilli, garlic, cherry tomatoes, green beans, fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar, each ingredient bruised just enough to release its flavour without losing all of its texture. The result is simultaneously crunchy, juicy, sour, spicy, and sweet — a dish that encapsulates everything Thai cuisine does best in a single bowl. Simple to make, impossible to forget, and endlessly adaptable to whatever is fresh and available.

Ingredients

  • 300 grams green papaya, peeled and shredded into thin matchsticks

  • 2-3 bird's eye chillies (adjust to taste)

  • 2 cloves garlic

  • 8 cherry tomatoes, halved

  • 6 green beans, cut into 3cm lengths

  • 2 tablespoons ONOFF Spices No Fish Vegan Seasoning Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

  • 1 teaspoon ONOFF Spices Thai Rice Vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon palm sugar (or coconut sugar as a substitute)

  • 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

  • dried shrimp, optional — traditional but can be omitted

Directions

  • Using a mortar and pestle, pound the chillies and garlic together into a rough paste — you want texture here, not a smooth purée. The chilli seeds and garlic should be broken down but still visible.
  • Add the palm sugar, fish sauce, Thai rice vinegar, and lime juice and stir to combine with the pestle until the sugar fully dissolves.
  • Add the cherry tomatoes and green beans and lightly bruise them with the pestle — just enough to release their juices into the dressing without breaking them apart completely.
  • Add the shredded green papaya and dried shrimp if using. Using both the pestle and a large spoon, toss and lightly pound the papaya so it bruises slightly and absorbs the dressing. This step is what gives som tum its characteristic texture — the papaya should be softened at the edges but still have crunch at the centre.
  • Taste and adjust the balance — it should be sour first, salty second, with a lingering heat from the chilli and just enough sweetness to round everything out.
  • Transfer to a serving plate and scatter the roasted peanuts over the top just before serving.
  • Serve immediately alongside sticky rice and grilled meats, or as a light meal on its own.

Notes

  • Green papaya can be found in most Asian supermarkets, where it is sold firm and unripe — this is correct. Ripe, sweet papaya is a different fruit entirely and will not work in this dish. If green papaya is unavailable, two excellent substitutes work beautifully in this recipe.
    Cucumber — peeled, deseeded, and cut into thin matchsticks — gives a fresher, more delicate result that is particularly good in hot weather.
    Young corn — sliced lengthways into thin strips — gives a sweeter, crunchier result that is especially popular in central Thailand. Both substitutes work with exactly the same dressing and method. If you do not have a mortar and pestle large enough, finely mince the chilli and garlic, whisk the dressing in a bowl, and toss with the remaining ingredients — the texture will differ slightly but the flavour will be just as good.