What's
New
Thai Papaya Salad (Som Tam)
I was really excited to see green papayas selling cheaply at my local supermarket (Sheng Siong). I bought one right away to make my favourite Thai green papaya salad, known to Thai locals as Som Tam.
See Also:
- Thai Green Mango Salad Recipe
- Pineapple Fried Rice Recipe
- Easy Thai Recipes
- Thai Supermarket in Singapore
What I used. (1) Green papaya (2) Japanese dried shrimps as a substitution for Thai dried shrimps and (3) gula melaka syrup as a short cut if you are lazy (like me) to melt the gula melaka (palm sugar) chunks in a saucepan. You can use honey instead, though to me gula melaka gives an edge of flavour which sugar or honey lacks.
A mortar and pestle is essential to extract the full flavours of this tropical salad by lightly pounding and bashing the flavours out of the ingredients. Lastly, a zigzag peeler (what I used) or mandolin slicer will be a great investment to get professional shredded papaya in almost no time at all. Check out the write-up at Thai mango salad for more tips for making this refreshing Thai salad.
A very delightful and appetizing salad! I love your salad bowl too.
I like Thai papaya salad quite a lot but the ones outside are usually quite salty and less on the sourness that I like. Homemade is still best. But I am too lazy to do the prep. work leh!
actually i usually make this dish when busy! “shred and toss” – at least no need to activate the stove ;)
One of my favourite dishes to order at a Thai restaurant. Glad to be able to enjoy it at home.
I used to eat Som Tam at a Thai restaurant. I loved its taste so much.
Thanks for your sharing. Now I am able to enjoy it at home.