Som Tam: Authentic Papaya Salad

Thai Papaya salad or Som Tam, the dish craved by Thais when overseas

 

Papaya salad is made with the main component which is grated papaya in strips, put into a mortar. Complete with ingredients such as yard-long beans, garlic, small tomatoes, eggplant, Sida, fresh chillies, and dried chillies, then seasoned with white sugar or palm sugar, add fish sauce, and lemon, to your liking.

These ingredients give papaya salad a unique flavour. Sour, salty, spicy, noisy, pleasing many people. Thai people in the northeast, prefer to eat spicy, salty, spicy papaya salad. Whereas Thai people in the central region like to eat sweet and sour flavours There are also side dishes that are often almost indispensable, such as grilled catfish, grilled chicken, rice noodles and fresh vegetables such as morning glory, long beans, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and sticky rice.

 

 

The history of Papaya Salad

Papaya was originally a plant native to Central America. Later, in the early Ayutthaya period Portuguese and Spanish cultivated in Southeast Asia. Around the same time, Dutch people brought chillies to Thailand later.

During the reign of King Narai, the Great French ambassadors Nicolas Gervaise and Simón de la Lubera visited Ayutthaya and said at that time that Papaya had become one of the native plants of Siam. They also mentioned lime, mango, garlic, pickled fish, crispy fish, dried shrimp, bananas, sugar, pepper, cucumber, and various beans that can be used as ingredients for papaya salad.

In Laos, Som Tam is called Som Buak Tam or Tam Mak Hung (Mak Phu Hung means papaya), sometimes referred to as Som Tam. The Thai word orange means "sour". Referred to by Lao people as general ingredients of Laos papaya salad are similar to Thai papaya salad. Consists of papaya, chopped into strips, powdered rice nougat (monosodium glutamate), spicy betel (chilli), salt, garlic, fish sauce, sugar, pickled fish sauce (pickled fish sauce), peas (yardlong bean), betel nut (lemon) and others. Add the acacia seeds as well. In addition, some areas have raw crab and crab water added as well.

 

 Papaya Salad

 

Ingredients you will need if you are taking an online class

● Raw papaya
● Garlic
● Hot chilies (Thai red or green chilies)
● Tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes)
● Roasted peanuts
● Long green bean,
● Carrot, sliced
● Fish sauce
● Lime
● Palm sugar
● Salt