Som Tam (ส้มตำ) also called Tam Bak Hung in Issan language and Papaya pok pok for tourists, is a very spicy salad prepared with green papaya strips pounded with fish sauce, lemon juice and lots of chilli!
This salad is a real drug for some Thai people, the mixture of chillies with the papaya green, lemon juice and the rest of the ingredients have a very tonic effect.
If you are a bit ill, Som Tam will act like a grog on germs, it can even give you energy if you have a hangover!
Spicy green papaya salad: Som Tam
Ingredients
Ingredients for Som Tam
- 1 green papaya
- 6 à 12 small chillies It is up to you to choose the dose,
- 1 carrot
- 4 small tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 4 tablespoons juice of one lime file,
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar
- 1 handle unsalted roasted peanuts
- 2 pod crushed garlic
Instructions
Preparation of the Som Tam
- Peel and cut the papaya in half lengthwise, remove the seeds with a spoon, rinse with clean water and dry thoroughly. (Do not discard the seeds, see link below the recipe).
- Grate the papaya and carrot into thin strips and set aside.
- Grind the chillies and garlic in a large pestle and mortar until you have a paste-like consistency.
- Add the papaya and carrot.
- Combine the sugar, fish sauce and lime juice and stir into the mixture.
- Crush one last time, mixing the ingredients well.
- Cut the tomatoes in half and stir them into the salad.
- Stir in the crushed peanuts. Mix well.
Notes
There are several styles of som tamThis recipe is the one for Thai som-tamwith the addition of crab it becomes a som-tam pou (crab = for) and with fermented fish som-tam plâ râ.
If you don't have glutinous rice you can also eat it with bread, it becomes a som tam farangset thaior Franco-Thai.
Papaya seeds have many medicinal properties, so it is better to keep them and eat them than to throw them away.
See : Medicinal properties of Papaya
Video of another Som Tam Thai recipe
Here is a video showing the preparation of the Som-Tam
See also :
10 delicious Thai dishes not to be missed, what to eat in Thailand
Recognise Thai dishes so that you can order them in restaurants