Thai Som Tum Recipe (Thai Green Papaya Salad)

Steps

1. 1To begin making the Thai Som Tum recipe, take a raw papaya which is green and very crisp. You must aim for a papaya which is white in colour from inside.
2. 2Peel off its skin. Cut it into thin sticks or julienne it with a sharp knife. I have used this peeler which makes juliennes for zucchini, papaya, radish and carrots.
3. 3Take some fresh beans and trim its ends and then cut them into 1 inch pieces.
4. 4Take thai red birds eye chilli and chop it finely and place it in a mortar along with clove of garlic. With the help of a pestle crush it and grind it into a paste. If you don't have mortar and pestle you can use a food processor.
5. 5Add the chilli garlic paste into a bowland add some lemon juice to it. Also add fish sauce, if you are a vegetarian or don't like the smell of fish sauce you can replace it with soya sauce. Also add brown sugar or palm sugar to the lemon sauce and mix everything together. You can add dried shrimps at this stage for an authentic flavour but if you are a vegetarian you can give it a pass.
6. 6Place the chopped beans in the mortar and bruise them slightly with the pestle so that the juices can run out and it can absorb the dressing better. Take tomato and scoop out its pulp using a spoon. Cut the tomato into juliennes or into cubes, as you like.
7. 7Add the papaya juliennes to the dressing bowl along with beans and tomato. Toss everything together and transfer it to a serving bowl.
8. 8Toss on top toasted salted peanuts. If you like you can crush the peanuts I just used them halved. Indulge in the most amazing and healthy salad from Thailand.
9. 9Serve Thai Som Tum Recipe as a side dish along with Vegetarian Thai Red Curryand Steamed Rice for a weekend dinner.