Thailand's Favourite Dish, Som Tam
Papaya Salad - a Tongue Tingling Burst of Sweet & Spicy Flavours
Som Tam is a uniquely Thai dish originating in Laos and the Isan region of Thailand The beauty of Som Tam is in the way it combines the classic Thai taste elements of sweet, salty, sour and bitter in perfect proportions and therein lies its secret, - how much sweetness, how much salt and how much sour to add.
Thailand’s popular Papaya is the base of this tempting salad, but while in the west we only eat ripe papaya, in Thailand it is the green ones that are used. The unripe, green papaya is sliced into julienne strips which are then pounded to release the perfume and flavour in the mortar and pestle. This is where the magic takes place because this is where the rest of the ingredients are added as the maker (usually a woman – even a street vendor) pounds away.
Ingredients may vary from region to region, but generally, they are the same wherever you have som tam, papaya the base, then sliced long beans, tomatoes, dried shrimps, chillies and garlic – lots of garlic.
Now comes the difficult bit, adding just the right quantity of saltiness and sugar. Fish sauce goes in first, then palm sugar and lime juice. Whether buying from a street vendor, or from an “Asian table” at a buffet in a 5* restaurant, the maker of the Som Tam will continually taste it and it is usual to ask the buyer to taste it also. Thais are obsessive about their som tam and will always tell the woman exactly how to make it, objecting if too much sugar or not enough garlic is put in. The dish is naturally high in vitimins A & C and the immune boosting properties of garlic.
As a foreigner buying som tam, just smile and point to what you think you would like, more chillies, less garlic perhaps? Then when it is in your hands, breathe in the aroma, dip your chopsticks into this sweet, spicey, pungent and hot ,essential Thai dish and enjoy.
Som Tam is more than a national dish, it is a national pastime, making it, eating it and watching other people enjoy it.
Recipe:
1 green papaya
4 garlic cloves
4 – 6 (or more) Thai chilies
2 tomatoes cut into wedges
Half pound chopped runner beans
1 or 2 tablespoons anchovy sauce
Half teaspoon nam pla (fish sauce)
60 ml. lime juice
Peel and wash the papaya under running water, remove the seeds and shred into julienne strips. Place garlic cloves and chilies in a mortar and pound, place papaya and other ingredients in the mortar and pound a little more, combing them by mixing with the pestle and a spoon.
If serving alone drain off some of the liquid. If serving with sticky rice this can be left as the rice will absorb it.
