Som tam
Shredded green papaya pounded with chilli, garlic, lime, fish sauce and palm sugar, with tomatoes, long beans and peanuts.
What makes it som tam
- Green, unripe papaya.
- Pounded, not tossed — in a clay mortar with a wooden pestle.
- Sour, hot, salty and sweet at once.
Where it comes from
Som tam — 'sour pounded' — comes from Isan and Laos, where it's eaten with sticky rice and grilled chicken. The pounding bruises the papaya so it drinks in the dressing; the Lao version, with fermented fish, is funkier and sourer.
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Start your own som tamNo one here has made som tam yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
