Listed in CNN Travel’s Top 50 Foods of the World, Green Papaya Salad is everything you know and love about South-East Asian salads. This Thai salad – called Som Tum – is a riot of fresh colours and crunchy textures, brought to life with a signature sour-sweet-savoury dressing spiked with a whack of fresh chilli. Now THIS is what I call a salad!!!
And … welcome to THAI WEEK!
Welcome to THAI WEEK
Every now and then, I like to do a recipe theme week. This week it’s THAI week, with three classic recipes to make your very own Thai feast at home:
Thai Yellow Curry – Made from scratch, this is flavour you literally cannot buy in a jar!
Green Papaya Salad (this recipe) – Great as side, yet substantial enough as a starter.
Thai Black Sticky Rice Pudding for dessert! It’s hard to believe you can make something so delicious that is fundamentally, made with just rice, water and sugar…
Green Papaya Salad (Thai)
This is a salad that’s about as far as you can get from Western salads. No mayo! No oil in the dressing!
It’s a zingy and spicy cold salad made with green papaya, a fruit which might be unfamiliar to most Westerners. Green papaya is simply unripened papaya, and has a juicy and slightly crunchy texture with a neutral taste. More on green papaya below, including a surprise substitution option!
When shredded, flavour clings to the green papaya. The tangle of threads becomes the perfect vehicle for carrying the kaleidoscope of tastes in the dressing: sweetness from palm sugar, salty savouriness from the fish sauce and dried shrimp, fresh tang from lime, and fiery pungency from a generous one-two punch of garlic and chilli.
Varieties and background
Originating from Laos, variations of Green Papaya Salad can be found in countries across South-East Asia including Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Salads can include everything from dried beef to pickled crabs. Here in Australia, the Thai version – called som tum – is probably the most well known and most widely available. So that’s the version I’m sharing today.
What goes in Green Papaya Salad
Here’s what goes into the salad. The dressing ingredients are shown separately below.
Green papaya
This is literally unripened papaya fruit that is the shape and size of a melon. The texture of the inside is like potato. It’s firm but moist (though not starchy like potato), and ideal for shredding like we do for Green Papaya Salad.
The taste is faintly astringent but overall fairly bland. You wouldn’t eat it plain like other fruit because it doesn’t have enough flavour.
Even though it’s considered a fruit, it’s not sweet at all in its unripened state.
How it’s prepared – Peel using a standard vegetable peeler (the skin is quite soft). You might see the peel weep a white liquid, just wipe it off. Now cut papaya in half and remove the seeds using a spoon. Then finely shred into matchsticks using a julienning shredder, as pictured above.
Where to find it – This is a bit of a specialty ingredient. You can find it at some Asian grocery stores (Thai and Vietnamese are best), and sometimes (sometimes!🤞🏻) at Harris Farm Markets in NSW and Queensland.
Substitutes – The best substitute is green mango, another unripened fruit used in salads in Thai cuisine but also an ingredient that would need to be sourced from an Asian store!
In terms of readily accessible vegetables, nothing is quite the same as green papaya. However funnily enough, de-seeded and shredded telegraph / English cucumbers are the closest!
Snake beans
Named as such for its length, these are like very long green beans only a bit firmer and a bit more scraggly looking. Snake beans have the same texture and a similar flavour to ordinary green beans, which can be prepared in the same way.
For this particular recipe, the snake beans are used raw. They are cut into bite size lengths then pounded to soften and absorb the flavour of the dressing.
Find it at Harris Farms (NSW/QLD), some large grocery stores (Coles/Woolies) or Asian stores.
Substitute green beans / French beans.
Cherry tomatoes
Just every day cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes! Ordinary large tomatoes sliced up will work ok from a flavour perspective, but I’ve never seen them used in this salad.
Thai basil
Thai Basil tastes like normal basil with a stronger aniseed and slightly minty flavour. Nowadays it’s fairly widely available in Australia in large grocery stores and green grocers (Coles, Woolies, Harris Farms).
Best substitute for this recipe is coriander/cilantro. It brings a different flavour to this dish, but it’s not unheard of and the best alternative, in my opinion. The next best substitute is ordinary Italian basil.
What goes in Green Papaya Salad Dressing
Here’s what you need to make the dressing:
Dried shrimp – Found at Asian grocery stores, these are dried little shrimp. They are a key ingredient that are pounded and add a salty, shellfish umami to the Green Papaya Salad.
Can’t find it? If you skip the dried shrimp, you may find the dressing a bit one-dimensional. You can instead use the dressing in the Thai Beef Salad, which contains coriander to give it a boost. Quadruple it (ie. x 4)
Fish sauce – The other ingredient that adds depth and complexity to the dressing. Yes, it’s pungent straight out of the bottle, but it’s considerably diluted once mixed with everything else. If you substitute with soy sauce, you’ll find the dressing a bit lacklustre (in my opinion) so I really do urge you not to skip it. (If you’re really worried about it being strong, switch part of it with soy sauce).
Palm sugar – A sugar derived from palm trees, it’s a sweetener used widely in South-East Asian cooking that has a wonderful caramel flavour. Substitute with brown sugar.
Palm sugar comes in discs or in blocks, such as the cylindrical one pictured above. To ensure it dissolves easily into the dressing, it needs to be grated. I just use a standard box grater.
Limes – Fresh is the only way! If you don’t have fresh limes, I’d give this recipe a miss.
Garlic – Essential, for flavour!
Birds eye chilli – If you want the real deal, you can’t be shy with the chilli. The fact is, Green Papaya Salad IS spicy! Some are so screamingly spicy you’ll be banging your head against the table in agony. This one is not quite so brutal, but is still pretty high up on the spice-o-meter.
If you’re really concerned, feel free to dial it back to 1 chilli. If you skip it, you’ll have yourself a fine salad, but it’s not a Thai Green Papaya Salad!! 😂
Peanuts – A good handful of peanuts is an essential part of the Green Papaya Salad experience. They’re mostly tossed through the salad as part of the dressing, some reserved for sprinkling.
How to make Green Papaya Salad
Traditionally, Green Papaya Salad is made in mortars that are large enough to hold the entire salad. The dressing ingredients are pounded first, followed by the remaining salad components.
The steps in this recipe have been adapted for everyday folk like myself who only have an ordinary-sized mortar and pestle. We pound the components separately and bring it all together in a plain old bowl!
1. How to make Green Papaya Salad Dressing
Garlic and chilli paste: Pound the garlic and chilli in the mortar first until it’s a paste.
Crush shrimp: Add shrimp and pound to crush them. No need to grind into a paste, just break them up.
Dressing liquids: Stir in palm sugar, lime and fish sauce until sugar dissolves – it only takes a 10 seconds or so.
Transfer Dressing into a large bowl. Now, we’ll use the mortar for other components of the salad.
2. How to make Green Papaya Salad
Once the dressing is done, it’s on to the salad components!
Bruise snake beans: The snake beans are used raw in this dish so they needed to be pounded to soften so they are easier to eat. It also makes them split open a bit so the dressing seeps inside, and the bean flavour oozes out.
Add snake beans to the mortar (in batches if needed), then use the pestle to pound them a bit so they bruise, split and soften.
Transfer to bowl: Now add them to the bowl with the Dressing. The dressing will further soften the beans given a little time. This is why we do them before the tomato and papaya.
Crush tomato: Grab handfuls of tomato, and lightly crush with your hands then add into the bowl.
Traditionally, the cherry tomatoes are lightly bruised in a giant mortar and pestle so they “meld” in with the salad better and absorb the dressing. Because this recipe is adapted for everyday home cooks with standard size mortar, I simply crush then lightly in my hands before dropping into a large bowl to toss with everything else.
Add papaya to the bowl. As with the cherry tomatoes, the papaya is traditionally very lightly bruised in a mortar and pestle with the dressing. But honestly, shredded papaya is so delicate anyway this step isn’t necessary. And in fact, you prolong the already short shelf life of this salad by NOT pounding the papaya!
Peanuts: Then add about 3/4 of the peanuts.
Toss: Working quickly, toss well with 2 wooden spoons or tongs. It’s important to work quickly once the papaya comes into contact with the Dressing because the papaya will start to wilt and leach water which dilutes the dressing.
Serving bowls: Transfer the salad into serving bowls. Pile it up nice and high for a good visual effect!
Garnish and serve: Spoon some dressing over the salad. There will be a bit of dressing still left in the bowl because the recipe needs quite a lot of dressing to ensure all the papaya gets coated nicely.
Garnish with Thai Basil leaves, sprinkle with remaining peanuts, then serve immediately.
How and what to serve with Green Papaya Salad
This is a salad that qualifies as a “meal salad” in my world, being one that you can eat in vast volumes as a meal. The extreme tastiness is a big factor here, as is the slaw-like form of the salad which makes it easy to devour large quantities with speed (wait, is that just me?).
A popular fixture of Thai menus here in Australia, you’ll see it offered as a side salad, as a starter or as a lunch salad. As part of Thai Week here at RecipeTin Eats (see top of post!), I’m offering this up as a refreshing side salad to accompany the Thai Yellow Curry I shared on Monday.
(You can easily refashion this into a main course by adding a protein. Try sliced medium-rare beef or tuna steak, barbecued chicken, pork, fish (try crispy skinned salmon!) or shellfish. I’d stick to fairly plain treatments, since the salad is not short on flavour as it is.)
For more side options, or starters to kick off your Thai feast, have a browse of my Thai recipe collection. Some suggestions for Thai starters:
Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce – A firm reader favourite! (Or try Beef Satay).
Thai Fish Cakes – The secret is red curry paste!
Thai Lettuce Cups (Larb Gai)
To all my fellow lockdownees, I hope this inspires you for Thai night … IN! I’ll be back Friday to serve you up dessert! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Thai Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum)
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 2 tbsp garlic , roughly chopped (10 normal or 4 large garlic cloves)
- 6 bird eye chillies, , roughly chopped with seeds (use fewer for less spicy, Note 1)
- 6 tbsp dried shrimp (Note 2)
- 1 cup palm sugar , grated using standard box grater, loosely packed (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 1/2 cup fish sauce
Green Papaya Salad:
- 1 cup roasted peanuts , unsalted
- 20 snake beans , cut in 5cm/2″ pieces (raw, Note 4)
- 3 cups grape tomato , cut in half (~400g / 14oz)
- 500g / 4 cups green papaya , shredded, TIGHTLY packed cups (~1 medium, 2/3 large, Note 5)
- 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves (Note 6)
Instructions
- Crush peanuts: Place peanuts in a mortar and pestle. Pound lightly to break them up into largish pieces, not into powder. Transfer to bowl.
- Garlic and chilli paste: Place garlic and chilli in the mortar. Pound into a paste. Add shrimp and pound to crush them – no need to grind them to a paste.
- Dressing: Stir in palm sugar, lime and fish sauce until sugar dissolves. Pour Dressing into a large bowl.
- Bruise snake beans: Add snake beans to mortar (in batches if needed). Pound to bruise, split and soften (they are raw, so they need to be bashed to soften). Add to Dressing.
- Crush tomato: Grab handfuls of tomato, crush with your hands then add into the bowl.
- Add papaya: Add papaya and 3/4 of the peanuts. Toss well with 2 wooden spoons or tongs.
- Serve immediately (Note 7): Once everything is coated in Dressing, immediately pile up onto plates. Spoon over some dressing (there will be a bit of dressing still left in the bowl, that's normal). Garnish with Thai basil leaves, sprinkle with remaining peanuts. Serve immediately (Note 7).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Watch how to make it
Life of Dozer
Yes, Dozer. This entire Flan Pâtissier is for you, not for the builders at our home. I’m going to put it down on the ground and you can devour the whole thing, all by yourself. (Dream on Dozer. Dream on.)
Noel says
I like the add-ins of the beans and tomatoes. I was taught a more stripped-down version once upon a time.
Hopefully your Monday commenter was just having a bad day. The better half and I have Thailand on the bucket list once the kids are grown.
Nagi says
I hope you try this one Noel – love to know what you think!! N x
Gail says
Geeze if the reader can’t find a recipe here then just go to another site. I love your recipes, and if there isn’t one that doesn’t grab my attention then i just jump over to see Dozer. Keep up the great work Nagi and thank you!
Tien says
-drools- can you please do a green mango salad recipe too please?!
Nagi says
You could always sub green mango in for this salad!! N x
Helen Carr says
Oh I love the green mango salad as well.
Gabi says
Your website has become my go to website for trying new recipes. Everything has been fantastic. And it is so much fun to try new ingredients or new ways to prepare them. Don’t let those comments get to you. Hugs to you and Dozer!
Nagi says
Thanks so much Gabi! N x
Susie says
It’s really sad to read that someone from my country was so rude to you. I love your recipes, so diverse and interesting. Most food blogs and recipe sites I find over the top with long winded explanations and photos. It takes a few minutes for all the ads to load so I skip over them. Your site is perfect..Thank you for all.you do.
Nagi says
You’re so welcome Susie!! N x
Debby Weber says
There are a million recipes on the internet using hamburger that this person can find. Your recipes are your specialties, perfected by you not to be bland and boring. Don’t ever believe that those in the USA need nothing but hamburger on their table. I really enjoy the breadth and depth of your time tested cuisine.
Nagi says
Thanks Debby! N x
naznin lila says
I have to say, that was truly rude of the person’s comments. You have some amazing recipes, some of which i have tried with all I can say is WOW.
BTW I would love to be the chef to work under you and to see DOZER everyday but I live in CANADA.
Keep doing what you do so well.
Going to try the Green Papaya Salad, looks delicious.
Nagi says
Thanks Naznin, I hope you love it!! N x
RANDE HIPPCHEN says
Hi Nagi! I totally disagree with the American won said we eat ground beef recipes. That is just so wrong. The person obviously eats a very boring diet. I love your recipes and have made many. Today I’m making your coconut curry for my cauliflower. I know before I even taste it that it will be delicious. Say hi to Dozer.
Nagi says
Oh that sounds amazing Rande, a vegetarian version? What a great idea! N x
Linda says
‘Back in the States’, I assure you that we love all sorts of recipes from around the world!! In fact, that is why I love your website. Keep up the good work and ignore these sorts of comments. Thank you for all that you do for your followers and your community!
Nagi says
I definitely will, thanks so much Linda! N x
Susan says
I agree with all the comments regarding the rude “American” – totally unnecessary and perhaps they should just buy a box of Hamburger Helper 😄. I love getting your emails and trying your recipes. They are always a “hit”. My best to you, Dozer and the entire RecipeTin family!
Nagi says
Thanks so much Susan!! N x
Lyn says
Nagi & Dozer, Rude comments made by this poster was truly uncalled for! I’m a Canadian. Ignorance has no place place from people in any country. Your site is absolutely amazing. I am so grateful for all the delicious recipes that you share with us. Each recipe is presented with such clarity that makes them easy to follow. Perhaps this demanding commentator should create her own recipes. I can’t wait for your next posting. Hugs to you and Dozer!
Nagi says
Thanks so much Lyn, you’re too kind! N x
Kim says
So delicious. I actually made this with your fried chicken recipe!!
I used mango instead of papaya also in summer when I couldn’t get papaya.
All your recipes are so good.
Nagi says
Amazing Kim, that would have been perfect!! N x
Evelyn says
Omg Nagi!! Looks amazing! This is something I crave all the time (anything Thai is my weakness really!) and I can not wait to try this recipe out! I’m sure it’ll be a winner. Drooling already… Your recipes are the best!!!
Carla Koch says
Hi, I am sorry for the rudeness and meaness of my fellow American. I think you have lovely recipes and have enjoyed making them! There’s always a critic (says the artist.) Take care, stay well and keep up the good work! Hi to Dozer!
Ashley says
I second that! Love your creations. She can look elsewhere for ground beef recipes!
Suzin says
Love Thai food, and other Asian, and Italian, and Polish, and Mexican, and Swedish. I have a diverse palette and try to expand my eating experience. Your recipes never fail for me.
Tracey Juba says
Hi Nagi and Dozer!
I’m from the states and love your recipes! Please ignore the ignorant.
Keep the great recipes, pictures, tutorials, and Dozer’s postings coming!
Maria G says
Hi, Nagi – we’re big fans of your recipes in our family, having cooked several that are always received with rave reviews, even by my super picky-eater younger cousin. We’re in Chicago (can you say American?) and I’m extremely sorry someone living in the same country as us had the gall, the gumption, the audacity and the cheek to leave such a mean comment. Obviously they need to brush up their cooking skills and open their palate a bit. Thanks for all you do and noggin pats to Dozer! xo
Judi says
Just to add not all of us here in the states are “Hamburger” centric ( perhaps most of us are not). This recipe looks yummy-something to try – do you have a substitute for green papaya not sure I can find that onisland
Jenny says
Nagi (and Dozer!), I loved your recipes and so pleased that it is “Thai Week”! I’ve been waiting for a Green Curry recipe for ages. Thus, pleased to see yours. I can’t wait to try it out. May I say that all of the recipes I’ve tried from you website have turned out really well. So glad that I found you! I’m going to forward the website with Green Curry recipe and Papaya Salad to my daughter in Berlin. I look forward to a Laksa recipe next, please! Thank you.
JP says
I am an American and don’t even eat ground beef, so that commenter is off-base. Also, maybe obesity in this country wouldn’t be so bad if Americans ate LESS meat and more veggies. Love your blog. Ignore the haters. Signed, an American vegetarian.
Richard Botts says
Thanks for the recipe. I have always wondered what to do with green papaya. This looks good