Mom's Authentic Thai Som Tum (Papaya Salad)
One of my favorite things in the entire world to eat is Mom's Authentic Thai Som Tum (Papaya Salad). Papaya, carrots and lots of other delicious veggies come together with lemon, garlic and fish sauce to make a perfect salad. This is perfection when served with hot Jasmine rice and roasted chicken or ribs.
Ingredients
- 3 Cups papaya
- 1 Cup eggplant
- 1 Cup Thai eggplant
- 1 Cup shredded carrots
- 1 Cup buttercup squash
- 1 Cup green beans
- 12 cherry tomatoes
- 7 Cloves garlic
- 3 Thai chilis
- ¾ Cup fish sauce
- 1 Lemon
- 1 Teaspoon MSG (monosodium glutamate)
Instructions
- Cut and/or shred the papaya, eggplant, Thai eggplant, shredded carrots, buttercup squash and green beans. Cut them to be roughly the size and shape of a matchstick. Add everything to a large mixing bowl.
- Chop the cherry tomatoes, garlic and Thai chilis. Spread the vegetables apart in the large mixing bowl so that you can access some of the bottom of the bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes, garlic and Thai chilis. Beat them with a pestle for 1 minute. Once pulverized, stir to mix in with the vegetables in the bowl. Continue to beat everything together with the pestle for 3 minutes until the vegetables soften and release their juices.
- Add fish sauce, lemon and MSG (monosodium glutamate). Beat for 1 minute to combine with vegetables. Stir everything together to completely combine using a large spoon. Enjoy alone with jasmine rice or serve alongside your favorite roasted meats.
Notes
- You may substitute any of the vegetables in this recipe if you cannot find them all. Substitute with additional papaya and/or shredded carrots.
- If you do not have a mortar and pestle, you may use a large mixing bowl for the mortar. Use a 26 ounce container of salt sealed in a zip lock bag as your make-shift pestle.
- Invest in an inexpensive julienne peeler to save time when shredding large quantities of food.
