Som tam is a spicy salad made with shredded unripe papaya.
It is generally believed that the recipe originated from the Lao people and is considered one of the national dishes of Laos, where it is called tam maak hoong.
Green papaya salad is also popular in the neighboring Thai region of Isan, whose population is mainly composed of ethnic Lao people and from where it spread to the rest of Thailand.
To specifically refer to the original style of papaya salad prepared in Laos or Isan, it is known as ส้มตำลาว or som tam Lao or simply as tam Lao, and the dish prepared in Central Thailand may be called som tam Thai , where the pla ra/pa dek is replaced with the milder fish sauce.
Papaya and chilies were introduced to Southeast Asia by Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the 17th century from the Americas.
During the 1950s and 1960s, green papaya salad and other Lao dishes were rarely known in Bangkok.
It could only be found around the boxing stadium that gathered boxers and fans from northeastern Thailand, as well as in food carts outside construction sites with northeastern workers, and in service stations serving long-distance bus drivers.
Some believe that som tam gained popularity among young Thai generations following a 1970s advertisement.
Others believe that som tam is rather the evolution of a Thai dish called pu tam or tam pu made with crab.
The dish combines the five main basic flavors: the sourness of lime, the spiciness of chili, the saltiness of fish sauce, and the sweetness of palm sugar.
It often contains crushed peanuts and is less likely to contain fish paste or pickled crab.
The ingredients are mixed and pounded in a mortar, which is reflected in the Khmer, Lao, and Thai names of the dish that literally mean “pounded papaya”.
It is often served with sticky rice and kai yang/ping gai (grilled chicken), or accompanied by raw green vegetables such as water spinach and cabbage wedges on the side to tone down the spiciness of the dish.
In the photo, the one tasted at the restaurant The Blue Marlin during the first part of my trip to Ao Nang, Krabi, in Thailand, in October 2024.
There is also a dish made with green papaya in the Seychelles:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 1 Person
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Thai
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz green papaya
- 2 chilies
- 1 oz tomatoes (cut into wedges)
- 1 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 lime
- 1 tbsp toasted peanuts
- 1 carrot (optional)
- to taste bean sprouts (optional)
- 0.7 oz Thai green beans (cut into three)
Tools
- 1 Mortar and pestle
Steps
Soak the papaya in ice water for 10-15 minutes.
Drain the papaya well and use paper towels to absorb the excess water. Cut it into julienne, as well as the carrot.
In a large mortar, with a pestle, pound the chilies until there are no large pieces left.
Add the palm sugar and pound until it turns into a wet paste.
Add the green beans and break them.
Then the fish sauce and lime juice.
Mix with a spoon.
Add the sliced papaya, tomatoes, carrots, and bean sprouts.
Serve with the peanuts.
Also spread in other Southeast Asian countries, it is called bok l’hong (in Khmer: បុកល្ហុង) in Cambodia and gỏi đu đủ in Vietnam.
