Salad
Green Papaya Salad (Vietnam)
- Preparation time
- 20 min
- Servings
- serves 4
Ingredients
- Green papaya — to buy1
- Carrot — to buy1
- Peanuts — to buy40 g
- Garlic — to buy1 clove
- Chili pepper — to buy1
- Fish sauce — to buy2 tbsp
- Lime — to buy1
- Sugar — to buy1 tbsp
- Fresh cilantro — to buy1 bunch
Preparation
Peel the still-firm green papaya (it should be green and hard, never ripe) and shred it into fine strands with a grater or peeler, along with the carrot — the finer the strands, the better the salad's texture.
Pound or crush the garlic and chili together with a little sugar in a mortar (or finely chop them with a knife), until you get a rough paste — this is the base of the dressing, just like in an authentic som tam.
Add the fish sauce and lime juice to this paste, and mix well to dissolve the sugar.
Pour the dressing over the shredded papaya and carrot, mix by hand or with two spoons, lifting well to coat every strand, and let it sit for 10 minutes so the flavours meld.
Sprinkle with crushed peanuts and fresh cilantro just before serving, nice and chilled.