🥗 Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)
Som tam is a Thai salad of shredded unripe green papaya pounded in a mortar with tomatoes, chilli, garlic, dried shrimp, lime juice and fish sauce, finished with roasted peanuts. It is crunchy and juicy, with a bold balance of sour, salty, sweet and fiery heat. It is usually eaten with sticky rice and grilled chicken, or on its own as a light meal.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 g green papaya, peeled and shredded
- 2 small tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 1–3 red chillies
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp dried shrimp
- 30 g roasted peanuts
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1½ tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
Method
- Pound the chillies and garlic in a mortar until roughly crushed.
- Add the dried shrimp and half the peanuts and pound lightly.
- Stir in the sugar, fish sauce and lime juice.
- Add the papaya and tomatoes and bruise them with the pestle while turning with a spoon.
- Taste for a balance of sour, salty, sweet and hot, then serve topped with the remaining peanuts.
How to make it lighter
- Go easy on the peanuts — 30 g peanuts ≈ 170 kcal.
- Reduce or skip the sugar and let the lime and tomato carry the flavour.
- Add extra shredded papaya or cucumber for more volume at very few calories.
History
Som tam comes from the Isan region of north-eastern Thailand and neighbouring Laos, where papaya salads are pounded fresh at markets and roadside stalls. Versions with dried shrimp and peanuts are common across Thailand today.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →