🥗 Thai Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam) Super Detailed Recipe + Hong Kong-Style Local Tips

Som Tam (green papaya salad) is one of the four hallmarks of authentic Thai cuisine. With a perfect balance of sour, spicy, umami, and sweet flavors, it's both appetizing and high in fiber. Finding the ingredients in Hong Kong isn't difficult, and I've personally experienced how easy it is to make a large bowl in the summer! Using green papaya from the market, finely shaved and evenly scooped, it's delicious, refreshing, affordable, and authentic! 🥒🍅🌶️

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)

• 1 green papaya (about 700g, peeled and shredded)

• Half a carrot (peeled and shredded)

• 2 long beans (cut into sections)

• 8-10 cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

• 2-3 cloves of garlic

• 1-5 chilli padi (test your ability to eat spicy food!)

• 1 tablespoon dried shrimp (can be omitted or increased)

• 2 tablespoons peanuts (roasted and crushed)

• 1 tablespoon palm sugar/coconut sugar (brown sugar can be substituted)

• 1.5 tablespoons fish sauce

• 1.5-2 limes (juiced)

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Detailed cooking process

1️⃣ Toast peanuts in a dry pan until fragrant, then crush them. Shred green papaya and carrots, cut long beans into sections, and halve cherry tomatoes.
2️⃣ In a mortar or large bowl, pound the garlic and chili peppers until slightly fine (add two more chilies if you don’t mind spicy food). Add the dried shrimp and pound again until fragrant.
3️⃣ Add palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and salt, and pound with a pestle to dissolve the sugar and make the sauce complete.
4️⃣ Add the long beans and cherry tomatoes and crush them lightly with a pestle (do not crush them). Then add the green papaya and carrot shreds, continue to pound and stir until each shred of carrot is coated with the sauce.
5️⃣ Finally, add the roasted peanuts, stir slightly to mix, and taste to adjust the balance of sweet, sour, spicy and salty.
6️⃣ Serve immediately to keep it crisp and fresh. You can also add salted egg and fried shrimp crackers to make it more Thai!

Editor's Hong Kong Chef's Recommendations

• The finer the green papaya is shaved, the crispier it is, even with a cheese grater!

• The seasoning should depend on the astringency, sweetness and moisture of the green papaya itself. It is easiest to achieve the golden ratio by tasting while preparing it.

• Cherry tomatoes are juicy and their color becomes more attractive after mixing; if you are afraid of fishy smell, you can reduce the amount of dried shrimp.

• If you don’t have palm sugar, use brown sugar. It won’t have such a strong fruity aroma, but it’s still good.

• The salad should be eaten immediately after mixing. Don’t wait too long before serving, otherwise it will become soggy.

A big bowl of green papaya salad is refreshing and healthy, perfect with soup, curry, or skewers! We recommend ordering one from the back-to-work lunch box—it's both appetizing and satisfying. Try this authentic Thai flavor now!