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.)
I bought a green papaya at the fruit market a couple days ago just because they looked fresh and were inspiring me to try something different. I knew you would have a recipe, Nagi and I have to say this salad tasted amazing! I had to sub in carrots and cucumbers for the snake beans and coriander for the Thai basil. It’s really the dressing that makes this amazing, I made half the dressing as I was only making for two people. I deseeded the chillies as they are really hot (from our garden!). I tasted the dressing then added two more small ones with the seeds and big was it hot! But it’s yummy. The dressing has so much flavour even though it’s really hot. That’s what I love. The dried shrimp were interesting and I definitely think they are integral to this dressing, Belacan would work but it would taste different. The shrimp add a flavour that is still there after the heat. It’s not prawny just a lovely layer to the dressing.
Oh and I forgot, I had about 10 prawns left from yesterday’s lunch so I added that to the salad and we just had some fried chicken breast with it also.
Super amazing. A lovely Christmas Eve lunch for my beau and me. Thank you Nagi. I wish you a very Happy Christmas and New year!
Hi Nagi- I love your recipes!
In this one you forgot the tamarind!!! It’s wonderful for balancing flavours in a som tum. It can be a little difficult to find though.
Hi Nagi! Love your recipes so much, thank you. Quick question… could I substitute some Roasted Belachan in place of the dried shrimp? I already have some in the cupboard from another recipe I made and thought it could be a good substitute? Thanks again.
I love the layout of your site. Tells a little history and context, then great photos and easy to follow steps.
Thanks so much!
I have all ingred. except long bean which I will sub with regular fresh green beans. Do I still need to bruise them like the long bean since they’re not tough like long bean? I am so excited to make this since I found the green papaya!
Hi Patty, yes you can sub fresh beans, just prepare as per the recipe! N x
Ok, so bruise them more gently than long beans? Or bruise them at all? sorry for my confusion 🙁
Hi Patty, I’m excited to try this dish too! It’s one of my all time favourites! For your green beans I’d suggest bruising them because once they’re bruised they tend to soak up all the juices from the lime, fish sauce.and palm sugar. Theres usually another recipe that this dish requires but I cant seem to find it in my country so fish sauce and shrimp paste are what I’ve used for alternative som tums. I hope you enjoyed making this recipe! I look forward to trying it out soon 🙂 also another greet snack to go with it is pork rinds 🙂 enjoy
Marie, thank you for telling me about the reasoning behind bruising the green beans. Very interesting and I wouldn’t have thought about being a way to absorb flavor! Thank you again 🙂
Fabulously delicious! Loved your easy to follow recipe! No Thai basil here in my town, WA,USA & used cilantro. Thanks so much!
Thai Papaya salad doesn’t put any basil in it at all. For decorating on top only.
You can leave it out if you like Angie, I like to add it to my salad 🙂 N x
I made this salad for my family and friends, and everybody loved it. Thank you so much Nagi!
Is there anything I can use as a substitute for peanuts as I am allergic to them.
@Elizabeth: I don’t feel like digging out my jar of peanuts, so I’m going to crush up some cashews that I have handy.
Did the cashews work? Forgot peanuts and just about to make.
Hi Elizabeth,
I reckon toasted crushed rice will do the trick as an alternative to peanuts.
Give it a try and see how it goes 🙂
It’s usually used in a dish called laab BUT in my opinion, toasted crushed rice should do the trick(I’m hoping).
I’d add 1 to 2 table spoons of white rice to a pan on medium heat. Making sure not to burn the rice but to give toda them around till they turn a golden brown colour. Once that’s done, using a mortar and pestle, crush the toasted rice until you get a coarse to fine texture and then you’re done. Add that to your dish right at the end and you’re good to go. I’d suggest testing a little bit out on the side before you throw in the lot just incase you dont fancy it lol but that is hopefully an alternative for you. Give it a try next time 🙂
kohlrabi is a excellent alternative to green papaya..use it lots .
Great idea James! N x
Omg cant wait to make Papaya salad using your amazing recipe, its literally one on my favourite things and I could eat it every single day 😍
I could too Filiz, how delicious is it??? Love to know what you think once you try this on! N x
Hi Nagi,
Love Thai week and just about anything you dish up. Your explanations have taught me a lot and as an animal lover, I just love that ol’ Dozer. He’s certainly living the life of riley with you.
Thanks
Thanks so much Jan!! N x
I’m a retired IT professional, and I think a lot of people got trolled here!!!
Here in the Torres Strait we have an abundance of green pawpaw. They are literally everywhere, the main street of Thursday Island is lined with mango trees that are full of green ones at the moment. My Thai friend makes this and it is so so spicy. i use much less chilli. Also shredded carrot goes wonderfully in this salad.
Sounds perfect Tonya!! N x
I have never received your three free cookbooks and have signed up twice! I love your recipes and the sweet little Dozer too, lol! Thank you
Hi Nadine, so sorry about that – can you send me an e-mail and I’ll email them to you straight away! N x
Nagi, here in the UK my kids and I love to look at your latest recipe at breakfast time and see what Dozer has been up to. You always inspire a 9 and 12 year old to try something new. Thank you for all the smiles you give us (even the grumpy cat, Monty, who knows we love him but a certain dog is a tiny % up on the cuteness level).
don’t take any criticism to heart – we never know what’s going on in people’s lives.
Stay strong in lockdown, you are doing an amazing job of uplifting daily life for so many of us xx
That’s so sweet Samantha, I love hearing this!!!! N x
Wow, so happy so see this recipe on your blog, will made it as soon get the next out shopping. Sure as always same as other of your recipe will come out good.
I hope you enjoy is Ai! N x
Hi Nagi, I was surprised and somewhat shocked at the letter that you received from one of your US followers. I think his comments are more reflective of the general standard of food cooked in the US.
I eagerly look forward to your recipes each week and cook approx 70% of them for my family. Only 1 or 2 recipes did not work out as expected, but the hundreds of others were enjoyed a great deal by my family.
I enjoy your cooking lessons and do not have any problems in purchasing the ingredients having lived in Sunnybank Hills, Brisbane for many years.
I feel sad that someone would write these comments to you – just demonstrates how rude they are.
We have had a Labrador as our first dog and she was a much loved family members. Seeing your photos of Dozer reminds all the family on how much our labrador (Chewie) loved food.
Please keep up the high standard of your recipes – love the layout, in particular the history of food and the video plus notes.
Best wishes, Peter
Thank you so much for the kind words Peter, that truly means a lot to me!!! ❤️ N x
Hi Nagi! We used to live in Thailand for long and miss Thai food everyday. I saw your video and happened to find green papaya at local shop! Can’t wait to make this dish. our family are huge fan of you, I love your recipes and my husband adores you as a blogger. Kids make your desserts. You rock!! Stay safe. xx
Love Thai week and looking forward to the dessert recipe.
Whilst in Thailand we particularly enjoyed a piece of charcoal BBQ chicken with our som tam.
Here on Vancouver island I don’t have ready access to green papaya, so sometimes substitute with zucchini…… julienne outer flesh, not the softer seed part.
Love trying so many of your recipes.
Thanks Nagi
Sounds perfect Lindy – any BBQ protein would be delicious here!! N x
Probably won’t try this one because I’ve never been a fan of papaya but I LOVE your recipes! I’m from the states and everyone I know is limiting their ground beef consumption. What a strange comment to make!
Hi Gloria, you can always try using one of the subs listed in the notes if you don’t like papaya! N x