The market · Fruit · Southeast Asia

Green papayas

Unripe papaya — hard, pale and nearly flavourless, used as a crunchy vegetable to carry a dressing.

crisp · fresh · mild

What to do with it

Classics built on it
ThaiSom tamShredded green papaya pounded with chilli, garlic, lime, fish sauce and palm sugar, with tomatoes, long beans and peanuts.No one here has made it yet

If you can't find it

Asian grocers; it should be hard and pale inside.

  1. 1Kohlrabi
    The same weight, julienned
    You lose a little crunch; it's milder.
    Gets some back half the weight as julienned green mango, if you can find one.

Goes with

limefish saucebird's eye chillipalm sugar

Knowing it

Where to buy
Thai and Southeast Asian grocers. Firm and dark green, white inside.
A little history
Som tam, pounded green papaya salad, comes from Laos and Isan, in north-eastern Thailand.
Worth knowing
Shred with a julienne peeler, or the Thai way: hack lengthways with a heavy knife, then shave off the strips.

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