Green papaya salad is loved throughout SE Asia in various forms, and we are pleased to present this detailed summary so you can bring it to your own kitchen. Somtum is a classic Thai dish, commonly associated with the NE (Isaan) area but served all over Thailand including a sidewalk shop found on our walking tour of good eats in Saochingcha area. Somtum is typically prepared three different ways. It can be “Somtum Thai” which has peanuts mixed in, “Somtum Bu” which has small pickled crabs pounded in, or “Somtum Lao sai pla ra” which includes the juice of pickled mudfish. Som tum is eaten as a snack as a salad. We also offer a very simple pre-made som tum sauce that you can add to the papaya, for quick preparation.

Papaya Salad Ingredients

  1. 2 cups shredded green papaya
  2. 1/2 cup shredded carrot
  3. 1/2 cup sting bean (cut into 1″ long)
  4. 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  5. 1 1/2 tablespoons palm sugar
  6. 3 tablespoons lime juice
  7. 1/2 cup tomato (wedged)
  8. 1/3 cup dried shrimps
  9. 1/4 cup peanuts
  10. 10 green chilies
  11. 5 cloves fresh garlic


Papaya Salad Preparations

1. Use motar and prestle to crush the chilli and garlic, add shrimps, continue crushing.

2. Add sugar, continue beating with the prestle, then add the papaya, carrot, sting bean, fish sauce, lime juice, tomato, and peanuts. Continue beating until all ingredients mixed well.

3. Finally, season with sugar, fish sauce, or lime. The original taste this dish should be the balance taste between sweet, (pepper) hot, salty, and sour.

4. Serve with vegetables (e.g. cabbage, string bean, napa, etc.). Thai people love to eat Sticky Rice with Papaya Salad. In this case, sticky rice can be served together with finished Papaya Salad.