Papaya salad. A fresh, spicy, and crunchy salad that instantly brings Thailand to mind. This classic is often served as a side dish, but also works perfectly as a light lunch.
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Why this Recipe Works
The secret for this papaya salad lies in the combination of green papaya with lime, fish sauce, chili, and crunchy peanuts. It’s fresh, colorful and very delicious!
Salad with Green Papaya
The base of this papaya salad is green papaya. This is an unripe papaya with a firm, fresh texture, perfect for cutting into thin strips. Using a mandoline (handy to have at home for dishes like this) gives you exactly the right shreds.
Thai Papaya Salad
Papaya salad is often called “som tam” in Thailand and is literally on the menu at every street corner. The dish is spicy, sour, slightly sweet, and salty all at once, exactly the flavors that make Thai cuisine so special. This som tam salad is the perfect addition to all the salad recipes here!
Looking for more inspiration from Thai cuisine? I’ve previously shared some of my favorites, such as this pad Thai, tom kha gai soup, Thai green curry or red curry noodle soup.
Variation and Tips
The fun part is that you can adjust the spiciness yourself by adding more or less chili. That way, you can tailor the salad entirely to your own taste! It’s also ideal if children are eating with you or for people who prefer less spicy food. Other adjustments you can make are:
- Peanuts: can be replaced with cashew nuts.
- Palm sugar: can be replaced with light brown sugar.
- Fresh chilies: 1 or 2, depending on how spicy you want it.
- Dried shrimp: can also be omitted or replaced with fish sauce.
- Cherry tomatoes: you can also use larger tomatoes cut into pieces.
- Lime juice: lemon juice can be used instead.
FAQ Papaya Salad
What is green papaya?
This is an unripe papaya with a firm, fresh texture, perfect for cutting into thin strips.
What if I can’t find green papaya?
If you cannot find green papaya you can substitute it with other crunchy, fruit or vegetables. Excellent alternatives are shredded green mango, cucumbers, carrots, daikon radish or even green apples.
How should it taste?
The secret to a great papaya salad is the balance of all four flavors; sweet, salty (savory), tangy and spicy. Adjust your salad if needed to find the perfect balance according to your taste.
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Ingredients
- 1 small handful peanuts (coarsely chopped)
- 1,5 tbsp palm sugar
- 1–2 fresh chilies
- 2 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp dried shrimp
- 175 gram green papaya (cut into thin strips, use a mandoline for this)
- 50 gram green beans (trimmed and cut into pieces)
- 1 small handful cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1–2 tbsp fish sauce
Equipment
- Mandoline
- Mortar and pestle
- Big salad bowl
INSTRUCTIONS (how to make this recipe):
- Place the palm sugar in a small saucepan with a heavy bottom together with 2 tablespoons of water and heat over medium heat until the sugar has melted and formed a thick syrup.
- Place the chilies, 2 cloves of garlic, dried shrimp, and peanuts in a mortar and pound them into a coarse paste.
- Then add the papaya. If it doesn’t fit in your mortar, you can also use a sturdy bowl. Pound the coarse chili-garlic paste into the green papaya so that all the flavors are well absorbed.
- Then add the palm sugar syrup along with the green beans and cherry tomatoes. Toss everything together well and season with the lime juice and fish sauce.
- Serve with some extra chopped peanuts and a few lime slices if desired. Enjoy your meal!
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