# Som Tum (Papaya Salad)

A fresh and flavorful Thai papaya salad that perfectly balances heat, acid, and umami.

- Cuisine: Thai
- Category: Salad
- Language: en

## Ingredients

- unripened green papaya
- carrots
- Thai chilies
- garlic
- lime
- palm sugar
- fish sauce
- long beans
- tomatoes
- roasted peanuts
- roasted dried Thai chilies
- MSG
- fermented crab paste

## Instructions

1. Peel the unripened green papaya.
2. Julienne the peeled green papaya using either a knife or a julienne peeler.
3. Peel and julienne the carrot using a julienne peeler.
4. In a mortar, add Thai chilies and garlic, then pound them together.
5. Add palm sugar or regular sugar to the mortar to balance the heat.
6. Add shredded papaya and carrots to the mortar.
7. Add fish sauce for salty umami.
8. Add long beans (or blanched regular green beans) to the mortar.
9. Add cut tomatoes to the mortar.
10. Pound the ingredients a few times to infuse flavors into the papaya, then toss the salad to ensure all strips are coated.
11. Serve the papaya salad on a plate.
12. Garnish with roasted peanuts.

## Equipment

- mortar and pestle
- peeler
- knife
- cutting board
- spoon

## Tips

- The knife method for julienning papaya and carrots results in a better texture.
- Go easy on Thai chilies as raw chilies pack an extra punch.
- Roll your lime to get the maximum amount of juice.
- If using regular green beans, blanch them for 30 seconds before adding.
- Pound the flavors into the papaya, smashing it a few times and then tossing to ensure contact with each strip of fruit.

## Source

- Original video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPPZ_3bgfnR/
- Recipe page: https://www.cliprecipe.com/recipe/0b70c07b-e08c-4d1f-909d-ed975f71fff4
- Extracted: 2025-10-25

Extracted from the video by Clip Recipe (https://www.cliprecipe.com). Quantities and steps are as stated or shown in the video. Site guide for agents: https://www.cliprecipe.com/llms.txt