How to Make Green Papaya Salad

In this heat, it can be hard to drag yourself into the kitchen to prepare a full three-course meal. Not to mention, who even has an appetite in this heat? One of our favourite easy and nutritious meals to make here at Asia Tatler Dining when the thermometer hits 30 and above are Thai salads, especially green papaya salad, called som tum in Thai.

Green papaya salad is ideal for these summer days: made with a healthy amount of refreshing raw unripe green papaya, it is then tossed with just enough chopped chillies and lemon juice to whet the appetite, even on the most sluggish days. The fish sauce and dried shrimps used also give just enough umami to make this dish not only healthy but also deliciously moreish.

To find out how to make the most authentic version of the green papaya salad, we head to Ayuthaiya in Central to ask chef Nong Sombat for his interpreation of this popular street dish. In addition to giving us his recipe, chef Sombat also has an additional tip: "When choosing the papaya, it is best to choose less ripe ones. You can test this by gently knocking on the papaya. If it feels hollow, then it's a good one to use".

Ingredients:

1 piece green papaya

1 TBS crushed garlic

1 TBS chopped chillies

1 TBS spring pea

3-4 cherry tomatoes

5-6 dried shrimps

1 TBS peanuts

For the sauce:

1 TBS fish sauce

1 TBS lemon juice

½ TBS palm sugar

Method

1. First shred the papaya

2. In a stone bowl, add the tablespoon of crushed garlic and one tablespoon of chopped chilies. If you like spicy food, you can add more chilies

3. In the stone bowl, crush the garlic and chilies together

4. After crushing, add the spring pea

5. Take 3 to 4 cherry tomatoes, slice in half and add to the mixture. Now mix and crush all items together

6. Then add the dried shrimps and crush slightly to add flavour

7. Add the fish sauce and lemon juice to the mixture, before adding the palm sugar