Som Tam Thai: Green Papaya Salad

[Alexandria Profile]

Having been working in Lisbon, & we had a request for Thai Cuisine, we voted and decided to ask the Hotel for a good recommendation ..

So, the Hotel, recommended: Restaurant Sukhothai, located on Rua da Atalaia 77 ..

Here is the recipe for the salad I had .. It is exquisite ..

10 Thai chilies
5 tiny cloves of garlic
1 tsp. sugar
Green Beans, called Yard Beans ( 2 sliced into 1 inch lengthwise pieces)
4 cherry tomatoes
1 lime sliced in half
2 tsps. of a Thai Fish Sauce
1 cup of green papaya, peeled and shredded
100 grams of fresh prawns
2 blsps of roasted peanuts
Fresh shredded lettuces of choice

1) Pound the chilies and garlic in a mortar and pestle .. Add the tsp. of sugar, green beans and cherry tomatoes and pound lightly.
2) Squeeze and drizzle the lime juice and add the Fish Sauce, and pound gently. Add the papaya, the prawns and the peanuts and pound to combine ..
3) Arrange in large cocktail glasses and serve with an array of crudities and extra salad dressing in a sauce boat ..

Simply was amazingly lovely.

One can sub fresh papaya or mango and fresh red vine tomatoes instead of cherry ..

Have a lovely day ..

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I love som tam but seldom make it as it is hard to get papaya sufficiently underripe in London, the restaurants must get them from somewhere so I'll keep looking, but last time I found some tiny ones in Wing Yip they were £3.40 each
They really do need to be green enough to be quite crisp.

I think I'd use a bit more than 1 cup papaya to that amount of dressing and the prawns (tiny shrimp in fact) should be dried not fresh, briefly soaked, and pounded with the peanuts, I don't think it would taste right without dried shrimp. I wouldn't serve it in a cocktail glass, and in Bangkok it is always dressed in the kitchen, as the papaya is added to the dressing in the mortar and it is mixed and very lightly pounded with the pestle so that the dressing soaks into the fruit

The last meal I had in Bangkok was at the Spice Market restaurant in the Four Seasons - a big bowl of som tam, roast duck red curry, and some rice. Perfect

[Alexandria Profile]

Sue,

Le Mercat de La Boqueria in Barcelona sells Green Papayas ..

And the salad I had last night, was quite lovely.

I would prepare it would fresh "camarones" ( tiny prawns ) because I am very particular about where my shellfish are from, and the "dry" are a bit too salty for my palate ..

Other than this, it was exquisite ..


Yes, I too had spent a few days in Bangkok, in route to Phuket Island in 2013 .. Where I also had a Green Papaya Salad and it was the best I have eaten to date ..


The recipe was given to me by the restaurant yesterday, and as most Chefs in this genre of restaurant, are not always accurate .. I have a few cookbooks featuring this salad at home and shall re-check the measurements on the ingredients ..


Have a nice day .. Thank you for the feedback.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Yes, I assumed that as you said it was from the restaurant they had adapted a little for local taste, hence removing the dried shrimp and serving small portions in a glass (i bet geen papaya is expensive in Lisbon too, but perhaps it comes in from Brazil),
As a light dish I must admit to serving it garnished with large fresh prawns, works well

[Alexandria Profile]

Sue,

The Green Papaya could of been from the Portuguese Azores or their other islands ..


Brazil is possibility as well ..


Yes, surely it was adapted for The Portuguese .. The restaurant was packed ..

Locals and tourists ..


Have a nice evening ..

[karadekoolaid Profile]

" Green Papaya" means it has to be rock-hard and almost white inside.
But there`s a big difference between a "pawpaw" and a "Brazilian Pawpaw"- one is a huge fruit weighing up to 7-8 kgs, the other is a small, pear-shaped fruit; a little bigger than a pear.

[kavey Profile Website]

We went to Thailand in January and one of the restaurants I really loved was a casual place specialising in som tam. So amazing! We have been able to find green papaya at both Wing Yip and Loon Fung oriental supermarkets, and have been experimenting with the som tam dressing to get the balance just as we like it. A friend gave us a huge mortar and pestle she bought back from Thailand many years ago, it's one specifically for som tam.

[Alexandria Profile]

Karakoolaide,

I am sure that the Green Papaya we had ( White interior with Green exterior & a crunchy texture ) were from the Portuguese Islands or possibly The Canary Islands, as a Brazilian or even a Thai shipment, would be ripe on arrival via ship in the Lisbon Port ..


Have a lovely day ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Karakoolaide,

I am sure that the Green Papaya we had ( White interior with Green exterior & a crunchy texture ) were from the Portuguese Islands or possibly The Canary Islands, as a Brazilian or even a Thai shipment, would be ripe on arrival via ship in the Lisbon Port ..


Have a lovely day ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Kavey,

Thank you for all your feedback ..

Surely an exciting Project ..

Have a nice day ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Kavey,

Thank you for all your feedback ..

Surely an exciting Project ..

Have a nice day ..