Som Tum or Som Tam is the most famous salad out of South East Asia, there are different versions of this in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the one we’re making today is Thai style. It combines the five basic flavours, sour, spicy, salty, savoury and sweet, all the elements bring out these flavours brilliantly. The Thai recipes vary according to regions, some use dried shrimp while others use salted crab meat, in this version we’re going to use dried shrimp. I’m sure you’re going to like this, enjoy!

 20-Mins / Easy / Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

2-cups Green papaya, shredded

5 Cherry tomatoes

6 Green beans

2 Birds eye chillies

1-tbsp. Dried Shrimp

1 Garlic clove

1 Lime, halved

1.5-tbsp. Fish sauce

1.5-tbsp. Palm sugar

2-tbsp. Peanuts

PROCEDURE

1. Cut the tomatoes into halves, cut the beans into 2-inch pieces, slit the chillies and deseed if you don’t like it too hot, or else keep the seeds, peel the garlic, lightly crush the peanuts, sliver the green papaya useing a shredder or box grater.

2. Use a large enough mortar, put in the garlic and chili first and crush, add the green beans and tomatoes, lightly bruise, add the shrimp and continue pounding, slice the lime in half, cut one half into thin slices and add while pounding, now add all of the other ingredients using the pestle to pound and a long spoon to toss and mix, do this for about a minute, taste, add more fish sauce, sugar or chili, taste, adjust and taste again. Squeeze the remaining half of the lime juice into it and serve.