Som Dtam - Green Papaya Salad

[Jade Emperor]

Hey there! Does anyone else make this and love it as much as I do? It’s a very popular Thai dish, and again, many regional variations. I always warn people that it is HOT! I’ve tried to keep the heat down when I know that some of my guests will find the heat of my traditional recipe too confronting, but it’s just not the same.
While it’s a hot tasting salad, it’s oddly refreshing even when it’s hot outside.
Let me know if you would like me to post the recipe

 

[thymeless]

I've enjoyed it from the neighboring cuisines that aren't quite so spicy hot as thai. Do you do anything different from the norm? I've seen some people say to substitute green apple or green mango as papaya can be tricky to find some places. Do you have a recommended substitute you like?

 

[Jade Emperor]

I have fairly good access to green papaya, but I have tried it with green apples and oddly, carrots. Both not bad, at a pinch.
The main takeaway here is that you want to use substitute that gives you the texture and doesn’t have a strong taste, because the idea is for the papaya to absorb all the different flavours of the dressing.
Certainly the variations from Laos and Cambodia for example have less chilli and often use shrimp paste and crab paste, no tamarind water. These are often more popular amongst the western palates, so you can try both to see which you prefer.

 

[jennyema]

Yes! But I’m sort of allergic to it. I don’t think it’s supposed to be super spicy, though.

 

[Jade Emperor]

My street food Thai version uses 6 birds eye chillies, so yes it is very hot!

 

[thymeless]

The one I liked best was at Viet Chubby Boy near the Bishop museum in Oahu.

 

[pepperhead212]

I love Som Tum, and have posted a number of times about it. Here's one of the times:

Making Som Tum

This is a variation on a classic, made with kohlrabi in place of green papaya. I have tried a number of other vegetables, just to see how they turned out, simply because I love this stuff, and rarely have the green papaya around (and even when I go to the Asian markets, it isn't often in the...

www.discusscooking.com

I have made milder versions of it, for friends, using milder peppers I grow. Actually, Thai "bird" peppers really don't have that much flavor, just heat, and I use Thai Vesuvius and Thai Dragon in place of Thai birds - still very hot, but much better flavor, and I use them for many dried peppers in Chinese, Korean, and Indian, when I want heat and flavor. But there are much milder ones with a similar flavor, for those who don't want intense heat.

And as I noted on the post above, kohlrabi is delicious as a substitute for the green papaya, and more readily available. Jicama is even closer, and I've tried a few other things, but the kohlrabi is the easiest to grow, and mildest. I used to make it so often (along with some other Thai dishes using these, like Pad Thai) that I bought crushed peanuts in 5 lb bags, and vacuum seal recipe amounts of them, and froze them.

 

[pepperhead212]

I almost forgot - I have this Laotian style mortar and pestle, used specifically for som tum.
Deep, Laotion style mortar and pestle, for som tum. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[Jade Emperor]

This is mine

 

[pepperhead212]

I figured you had one, if you make it that much!

 

[Badjak]

And mine

(Got 5 granite ones as well. Still want the flat Indonesian type )

 

[thymeless]

And the best shredding techniques?

Julienne Peeler?

I watched them do it in the hand recently on an Uncle Roger video, which usually drifts NSFW and probably same for here. They just tapped into the fruit in the hand with the asian cleaver in roughly parallel cuts, made a thin shaving cross cut. repeat. I'm not comfortable with that I don't think.

 

[Badjak]

I'm a little taken aback by their technique as well.
Maybe I try one day.
I use a little kiwi shredder thingy. I posted the link in pepperhead's thread as well.
But here it is again (same gadget, different seller) https://www.templeofthai.com/cookware/cutters-peelers-graters/papaya-salad-peeler-kiwi

 

[Jade Emperor]

I use the same technique as seen in the Uncle Roger weejeo (love him!) and you can also see it done by a fierce old Thai lady on Luke Nguyen’s show.