Som Tum (Papaya Salad): A Perfect Representation of the Balance of Thai Flavors

Som Tum (Papaya Salad), is a popular and traditional side dish in Thailand. It is made with shredded green papaya, tomatoes, green beans, peanuts, chili peppers, garlic, lime juice, fish sauce, and palm sugar. It is a perfect representation of the balance of flavors in Thai cooking combining spicy, sour, sweet, salty and savory flavors. It is often enjoyed with grilled meats or sticky rice.

Som Tum is a popular street food in Thailand. Look for a vendor that has a good number of customers, as it usually indicates the quality of their food. Som Tum can be quite spicy. They will usually ask for your preferred level of heat on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the spiciest. If you’re not accustomed to spicy food, you might want to try a 1 or 2 to start, as even a 5 can be very spicy. The Thai scale of spiciness is not the same as most of us are accustomed to! It’s interesting to observe how the vendor prepares your som tum by pounding the ingredients together in a large mortar and pestle to release the flavors. The vendor will typically package your som tum in a little plastic bag that you can either open and eat at the vendor’s location or take with you.

Som Tum can also be found at some of the finest restaurants in Thailand. Often it will be elevated with the addition of shrimp or crab as in this case at a beautiful restraint called The Deck across from Wat Arun on the Chao Phraya River. This makes the dish into more of a meal than a side dish.

Luckily Som Tum is also very easy to make at home. When choosing a papaya for Som Tum, look for an unripe green papaya that feels firm to the touch. Avoid yellow ripe papayas that feel soft, as they will be too sweet and mushy for the salad. Choose a papaya that is medium to large in size which will make the fruit easier to handle as you are shredding it. Also, choose a papaya that feels heavy for its size which indicates that it is fresh and full of juice. The papaya should have a mild, slightly sweet aroma. If it smells overly ripe or fermented, it may not be suitable for Som Tum.

As a side note, my mom would often make Som Tum with shredded carrots if she was not able to find green papaya. As an added bonus, carrots can often be found already shredded in the grocery store, which makes the dish come together even more easily. Choose shredded vs. matchstick carrots if possible. The carrots may also need to be slightly more pounded in the mortar and pestle since they are heartier than papaya and bruising is necessary for the absorption of flavors.

Tools for Making Som Tum

Two tools make preparing Som Tum easier, but neither are absolutely necessary. The first is a papaya shredder which is used to create the long julienne papaya strands. If you don’t have one, you can use a mandolin with a julienne attachment or also just use a knife. The second useful tool is a mortar and pestle. Traditionally in Thailand, a deep clay mortar and wood pestle would be used to make Som Tum. The lightweight pestle allows you to slightly bruise the Som Tum ingredients while retaining much of their shape and freshness. If you have a granite mortar and pestle, that would work too. Just be very careful not to pound the ingredients too hard so as to not pulverize them. See my post on the Mortar and Pestle to learn the differences between the two types. If you don’t own a mortar and pestle, a zip-lock bag with a rolling pin or a bowl and the back of a wood spoon could also be used.

Print Recipe

Papaya Salad

Som Tum

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Equipment

• Papaya shredder
• Clay Mortar and Pestle

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded papaya
• 2 Thai chili peppers more if you like spicy
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp palm sugar or substitute white sugar
• ½ cup strings beans cut into 1 inch strips
• 2 tbsp roasted peanuts
• ¼ cup fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes halved

Instructions

• Peel the green skin off the papaya and disguard. Shred the papaya fruit using a shredder, mandoline or knife (the shreds should be thin and long). Do not get too close to the seeds where the fruit is bitter.
• Using a clay mortar and wood pestle, pound the chilies and garlic until they’re broken up. Add the palm sugar and pound to help disolve.
• Add the roasted peanuts and pound to break them up slightly.
• Add the lime juice and fish sauce. Incoporate everything together.
• Add the long beans, shredded papaya, and tomato, gently pounding until vegetables are slightly bruised. Use a large spoon to incorporate all ingredients together as you pound.