About the Recipe
This is a bold and iconic dish that has achieved global popularity for its intense and well-balanced flavor profile. It is more than just a salad—it's a staple of Thai street food and cuisine, renowned for its fresh, vibrant ingredients and signature spicy kick.
The dish is defined by its core ingredient—the crunchy, unripe green papaya—and its signature preparation method: pounding the ingredients in a mortar and pestle to bruise them and fully release their combined sweet, sour, salty, and spicy dressing.
Ingredients
For the Salad Base
2 cups shredded unripe green papaya.
1 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes
4-6 long beans or green beans, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped (divided)
1-2 Tbsp dried shrimp (optional, for authentic umami flavor)
For the Dressing/Paste
2-4 Thai bird's eye chilies (adjust to your spice preference)
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about one medium lime)
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1-2 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar), finely shaved/crushed
1 tsp tamarind paste (optional, but adds a traditional sour note)
Preparation
1.Prepare the Papaya
Peel the hard, green skin from the papaya. Cut it in half and scoop out the seeds.
Shred the flesh into thin, long strips using a julienne peeler, a special papaya shredder, or by manually scoring the papaya with a sharp knife and then shaving off the strips (the traditional method).
Tip: Soak the shredded papaya in ice water for 10-15 minutes to maximize its crunch, then drain and pat dry.
2. Pound the Aromatics and Dressing
In a large clay or stone mortar and pestle (or a sturdy mixing bowl):
Add garlic and Thai chilies. Pound lightly until they are bruised and roughly broken into a paste.
Add palm sugar and pound/stir until mostly dissolved.
Add fish sauce, lime juice, and tamarind paste (if using). Stir well to dissolve the remaining sugar and combine the dressing.
3. Bruise and Assemble the Salad
Add the long beans and dried shrimp (if using) to the mortar. Gently pound until the beans are just bruised and slightly softened (do not crush completely).
Add the tomatoes and about half of the peanuts. Gently pound the tomatoes a few times to crush them and release their juices lightly.
Add the shredded green papaya. Using the pestle and a spoon, gently pound and toss the salad. You want to pound the papaya just enough to bruise it, allowing it to absorb the dressing without becoming mushy.
4. Taste and Serve
Taste the salad and adjust the flavor balance as needed (more lime for sour, more fish sauce for salty, or more sugar for sweet).
Transfer the salad to a serving plate and garnish with the remaining chopped peanuts.
Serve immediately, often with sticky rice or grilled chicken.
Variations
There are many regional and ingredient-based variations throughout Thailand and Southeast Asia.
Som Tum Lao / Tam Mark Hoong
Often spicier and much more savory/pungent. Uses pla ra (fermented fish sauce) and frequently dried shrimp paste instead of or in addition to regular fish sauce. Does not usually include peanuts.
Som Tum Boo Pla Ra. A very pungent variation that includes both fermented fish sauce (pla ra) and salted pickled crab (boo).
Tam Sua: A variation that adds fermented rice noodles (or khanom chin) into the salad along with the other ingredients.
Tam Maak Muang: Shredded unripe green mango is used instead of green papaya, which offers a different texture and a more intensely sour flavor.
Tam Thang. Shredded cucumber is used instead of green papaya.
Tips For Success
The Right Tool is Key: The PESTLE framework is crucial. The pounding motion (tum) releases the flavors and bruises the vegetables just enough to coat them without pulverizing them, which is not possible with simple stirring.
Keep it Cold and Crisp: After shredding the papaya, soak it in ice-cold water for about 10 minutes to help it crisp up. Drain it thoroughly before adding it to the mortar so that the water doesn't dilute your dressing.
Balance is Everything: The goal is a bold, complex profile that hits all the notes: spicy, sour, salty, and sweet. Taste as you go and adjust the lime juice, fish sauce, and palm sugar until they are perfectly balanced for your palate.
Use Fresh Lime Juice: Always use freshly squeezed lime juice for the best, brightest, and most fragrant sour flavor.
Adjust Pounding: The more you pound the chilies, the spicier the salad will be. The more you pound the papaya, the softer it will become—aim for slightly wilted but still crunchy.
Serve Immediately: Som Tum is best enjoyed right after it's made, as the papaya will start to lose its crunch the longer it sits in the dressing.
Note: You must use unripe (green) papaya. Ripe, orange papaya is sweet and soft, but it won't work for this recipe.
Carb Cycling Diet Approach
Thai Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum) is generally considered a Medium-Carb dish.
While the primary ingredient (unripe green papaya) is a vegetable and relatively low in net carbs, the classic dressing is where the carbohydrate count increases significantly.
Total Carbs per Serving: Approximately 20g - 35g
Net Carbs per Serving: Approximately 15g - 30g (after subtracting fiber)
If you are following a strict Carb Cycling plan:
For a High-Carb Day: It's an excellent, light Medium-Carb option, especially when paired with rice.
For a low-carb day, you would need to modify it significantly by replacing the sugar/palm sugar with a keto-friendly sweetener to reduce the carb count to below 10g.