I first experienced this dish while living in Thailand when I was teaching English for a year with a charity between school and university. Som Tam is a salad of Laos origin, but has become a mainstay of Thai restaurants everywhere due to the spread of Isaan food and culture from the borders of North East Thailand. There’s not exactly a right or wrong way to make it, as a quick search of the web shall show, so don’t worry too much about not having certain ingredients. As you’ll see, my version here came simply from what I could get my hands on at the time.
Som Tam, which is usually made with green, unripe papaya, is one of my favourite things ever. To me it is the epitome of the Thai/Laos method of balancing flavours and textures. - You have the spice of the chilli, the sour tang of lime juice, the salty/savoury fish sauce, and the sweetness of the palm sugar; all mingling in the textures of crunchy green papaya (or cucumber in this case) and peanuts, the slight rubbery chew of the green beans, and the soft flesh of the tomatoes. If your mouth isn’t watering yet you may have a problem…
As I’ve already said, you can substitute the cucumber for any number of fruit/vegetables. I’ve done this recipe with unripe green mangoes before, but you could use the likes of pomelo, carrot, courgette (julienned, salted, left for 30mins to an hour, and squeezed to remove extra moisture), or any mix and match of ingredients with a reasonable crunch or bite. —Mark Low
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