Som Tam (Thai Papaya Salad)

Do you know the best way to eat long beans? Eat it raw with dressing !
Not so long ago I just realized the real taste of long bean when I eat it raw. It is plain, crunchy, and it got a distinct taste which I can't describe.
And when it comes to veggies and salads, I'd say yes, me- love salad. Thanks to my Sundanese father, I could eat a whole plate of lalap with sambal oelek all by myself :-).

This recipe has been in my list for quite some time. I love Thai food, they are similar with Indonesian food. What I love most about them is the combination of sour -from the lemon zest, hot -from the extremely hot bird's eye chili/chili padi, and the aroma -from the lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, and galangal.

Even this salad, it is very "thai", spicy and fragrant. Really like the dressing, the dried prawn (ebi) combined with chilli, lime juice, garlic, and the fish sauce made it rich yet fresh.

Som Tam (from Chef Wan's Simply Sedap cookbook)

3 cloves garlic, peeled

30 grams dried prawn, soaked in water and drained

4-6 bird's eye chillies

85 grams cup peanuts, roasted

3 tbsp grated palm sugar or brown sugar

2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 tbsp tamarind juice from 1 tsp tamarind pulp

2-3 tbsp nam pla (thai fish sauce)

juice of 1-2 limes

350 grams peeled, shredded green papaya

long beans

Method

Pound the garlic, dried prawns, chillies, peanuts and palm sugar until coarsely ground. Add the tomatoes and continue pounding to make the mixture smooth.

Add the tamarind juice, nam pla and lime juice. Stir and transfer to a salad bowl.

Add the papaya and mix well. Serve with raw long beans.