Laos-Style Som Tam with cabbage wedges and fresh shrimp
The last time we shopped at 99 Ranch Market I picked a nice big Thai green papaya to make green papaya salad. I've been craving the taste of the hot, sweet, sour and spicy flavors of this lite refreshing dish for a while now. It's good with Thai/Laos sticky rice and turkey or chicken larb. About 8 years ago, I was a Thai and Vietnamese food junkie! My brother Pedro and I would frequent the restaurants and recreate the dishes at home. Back then my tolerance level of hot thai chili peppers was super high. I really enjoyed the heat and spicyness. But today I can't even handle the heat as much as before. I guess I have to work it. :)
This dish is really down to earth "earthy". It's a salad that makes you feel like you're eating a whole vegetable garden and the ocean. lol :) A full version of this dish has raw crushed crabs and is very ono if you like raw a'ama crab poke. Think of this dish as a normal Vietnamese green papaya salad on steroids! :D
Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam) in Thai, "som" means sour and "tam" means to pound with a mortar and pestle.
It was our light dinner for my wife and me when we got home tonight.
Laos-Style Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)
Ingredients:
1 medium garlic clove
2 medium fresh Thai chilis, start with 1 then add the other if you want it hotter.
2 cups shredded green papaya (Thai papaya recommended)
1-1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla) to taste
1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon sugar or Splenda to taste
Dash MSG to taste (optional)
2 oz unsalted roasted peanuts or 1 teaspoon peanut butter
1o-12 mint leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 cherry tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
12 inches of ong choy leaves and stems, cut into 4 inch sections
6 inches of chinese long beans, cut into 2 inch sections
2 good size cut wedges of round head cabbage as a side condiment
Instructions:
Using a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chiles until broken into small pieces. Add remaining ingredients. Use a spoon to scrape the sides of the mortar and turn the ingredients. Pound the papaya until it is limp and soft. Taste and adjust the seasonings to a balance of sour, hot, salt and sweet. Garnish with fresh ongchoy, in 4-inch pieces.
Serves 4
The last time we shopped at 99 Ranch Market I picked a nice big Thai green papaya to make green papaya salad. I've been craving the taste of the hot, sweet, sour and spicy flavors of this lite refreshing dish for a while now. It's good with Thai/Laos sticky rice and turkey or chicken larb. About 8 years ago, I was a Thai and Vietnamese food junkie! My brother Pedro and I would frequent the restaurants and recreate the dishes at home. Back then my tolerance level of hot thai chili peppers was super high. I really enjoyed the heat and spicyness. But today I can't even handle the heat as much as before. I guess I have to work it. :)
This dish is really down to earth "earthy". It's a salad that makes you feel like you're eating a whole vegetable garden and the ocean. lol :) A full version of this dish has raw crushed crabs and is very ono if you like raw a'ama crab poke. Think of this dish as a normal Vietnamese green papaya salad on steroids! :D
Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam) in Thai, "som" means sour and "tam" means to pound with a mortar and pestle.
It was our light dinner for my wife and me when we got home tonight.
Laos-Style Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)
Ingredients:
1 medium garlic clove
2 medium fresh Thai chilis, start with 1 then add the other if you want it hotter.
2 cups shredded green papaya (Thai papaya recommended)
1-1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla) to taste
1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon sugar or Splenda to taste
Dash MSG to taste (optional)
2 oz unsalted roasted peanuts or 1 teaspoon peanut butter
1o-12 mint leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 cherry tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
12 inches of ong choy leaves and stems, cut into 4 inch sections
6 inches of chinese long beans, cut into 2 inch sections
2 good size cut wedges of round head cabbage as a side condiment
Instructions:
Using a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chiles until broken into small pieces. Add remaining ingredients. Use a spoon to scrape the sides of the mortar and turn the ingredients. Pound the papaya until it is limp and soft. Taste and adjust the seasonings to a balance of sour, hot, salt and sweet. Garnish with fresh ongchoy, in 4-inch pieces.
Serves 4
3 comments:
hi reggie,
you shredded that papaya so perfectly..crucial to how the salad turns out i think.
luckily our local thai restaurant will make this on request only...they were so surprised when i asked for it. and the larb!
thanks for sharing .
no problem drstel!! i love sharing recipes!! :D I used a custom hand papaya shredder tool my uncle had made at his metal fabrication shop back in the 70's which he originally made to shred coconut to make kakanin etc. I kept it all this time! :) tenks for stopping by!
hi reggie,
i tried posting my commentg yesterday it wasnt successful, maybe something wrong with my computer.
anyway, I am glad i came across this blog.
i am 4 months pregnan t with hyoeremesis gravidarium, i was hospitalized and needed to gain weight due to that hyperemesis gravidarium, and also coz i was dehydrated and so weak. I was comstantly puking (sorry to those who are eating) and always nausea, my husband and my ob shares the same sentiment that i needed to eat more, for my baby... but i dont like eating since i found out i was pregnant, but since yesterday when i came across your blog, i think youre heaven sent, and you made me really hungry yesterday. my husband was thrilled when i said i wanted to eat out:)
i hope this will go on until i finally recover:)
thank you for being heaven's sent.
Hearts Magbanua
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