Som Tam green papaya salad with tomatoes, beans, chilli, lime and peanuts
Thai Recipe

Som Tam

For Som Tam, green papaya is cut into thin strips and mixed with a strong dressing of lime, fish sauce, palm sugar, chilli and garlic. Ingredients are not cooked, but crushed fresh and served immediately.

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Total time 25 min
Calories 210 kcal
Servings 4 servings
Difficulty Easy
By the Published Updated Editorially approved

Why this recipe works

Prepare Som Tam crisp with green papaya

Som Tam is supposed to be crisp, sour, salty, sweet and hot. It is not used for mashing, but for gently toasting garlic, chilli, beans and tomatoes. Thus, the papaya absorbs the dressing without becoming soggy.

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Recipe

Som Tam

Som Tam is a Thai green papaya salad with lime, fish sauce, palm sugar, chilli, garlic, green beans, tomatoes and peanuts. It is only lightly toasted in a mortar.

Ingredients

4 servings

Method

  1. 1

    Papaya

    Peel, core and slice green papaya into fine strips.

  2. 2

    Mortar dressing

    Roughly crush garlic and chilli in a mortar. Add palm sugar, lime juice and fish sauce and dissolve.

  3. 3

    Toast vegetables

    Add the beans and tomatoes and press them lightly to ensure that juice escapes but the pieces do not break up.

  4. 4

    Papaya mix

    Add the papaya strips and optionally dried shrimp. Mash everything loosely and turn until the dressing is distributed.

  5. 5

    Serve crisp

    Sprinkle with peanuts and serve immediately with lime.

Kitchen know-how

Tips for Som Tam

Just lightly stomp

Som Tam is toasted in a mortar, not mashed. Papaya and beans should remain crisp.

Make dressing strong

The dressing may taste intense at first, because papaya absorbs a lot of spice.

Serve immediately

Som Tam loses bite and draws water over time. Eat right after mixing.

Variations

How to adapt this recipe

Simply omit dried shrimp and season with a little more fish sauce or soy sauce if necessary.

If green papaya is hard to come by, replace a portion with carrot. The taste becomes milder, but remains crisp.

Nutrition per serving

210kcal
28.0 gCarbohydrates
7.0 gProtein
8.0 gFat

Values are estimates and may vary depending on the ingredients, brands, portion size and preparation method used.

Frequently asked questions

FAQ about Som Tam

You need unripe green papaya. Ripe orange papaya is too soft and too sweet for this salad.

You can prepare the ingredients, but mix the salad just before eating to keep it crisp.

No, Som Tam is a fresh salad. The ingredients are only toasted in a mortar and mixed with dressing.

Use less chilli and add more lime or a little sugar, the pungency is mainly in the dressing.

Keep cooking

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