In Thailand, green papaya salad is called som tum, with “som” meaning “sour” and “tum” referring to the pounding sound of the large pestle used to crush ingredients.
Som Tum or the classsic is the most popular dish among women in Thailand. It is a Northeastern food that is eaten with sticky rice and other Northeastern dishes such as Laab, Beef salad and Bamboo shoot salad. Traditionally, it is pounded with a mortar and pestle, which can be fun at times. However, it’s also messy and a lot of work. But hey, no pain, no gain, right? 😉
For the best Som Tums, here are some tips and techniques:
- For a vegetarian som tum, omit the dried shrimp and substitute soy sauce for fish sauce.
- Some people use tamarind in place of lime. Regular sugar can be substituted for palm sugar. I normally omit the peanuts because they’re not my cup of tea. xD
- The balance of fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and peppers listed here are guidelines. Som tum is an individual dish that you will find you might like yours with more, say, lime juice than what the recipe calls for.
To learn how to make your very own Delicious Som Tum, click on the links below!
https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/thai-green-papaya-salad-som-tum
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