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Som Tam Salad (Green Pawpaw/Mango Salad)
Prep Time
20 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 

This recipe is based on the Thai Salad, Som Tam, a dish that originated in north-east Thailand, but is now popular world wide.  Normally served with sticky rice, we enjoy it served with Tod Man Goong (Thai Prawn Cakes).

Category: Appetizer, Entree, Salad, Side Dish
Style: Thai
Keyword: Green Mango, Green Paw Paw, Mango, Mango Salad, Paw Paw, Paw Paw Salad, Thai Salad
Quantity: 4
Author: sbaskitchen
Ingredients
  • 2 green mangoes
  • 150 g green beans sliced and blanched
  • 200 g carrot
  • 125 g cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1/4 cup Fresh coriander leaves shredded
  • 1/4 cup Fresh mint leaves shredded
For the dressing:
  • 1 1/2 tbsp palm sugar
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 clove of garlic chopped
  • 1 red chilli chopped
  • 2.5cm/1 inch know of fresh ginger finely grated
  • 1 golden shallot chopped
  • 1 lime juice juice and zest
To serve
  • 2 tbsp peanuts roasted and crushed
  • fresh coriander leaves
Instructions

  1. Peel the green mango and cut the flesh into long thin strands, if you have a mandolin, use the fine julienne or grater attachment.

  2. Peel the carrot and cut the flesh into long thin strands, again, if you have a mandolin, use the fine julienne or grater attachment.

  3. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, ginger, shallots, and chillies into a paste, alternatively, using a fine microplane grater, grate each component (chillies are easy to grate if they are frozen).

  4. Add the palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice and zest, and mix to combine, check for balance and adjust if necessary (see note below). Set aside.

  5. Combine the mango, carrot, beans and cherry tomatoes in a large bowl.

  6. Add the dressing and, using your hands, toss gently.
  7. Pile onto a large serving platter and sprinkle over the crushed peanuts and coriander leaves.
Notes
  • While attending a cooking class at a restaurant in Thailand, the chef tutored us on achieving the correct balance of sweet, savoury, sour.  His advice was, if one item is out of balance, don't just try to correct it, you also need to add a little more of each of the other components - it sounds wrong, but it works...
  • After discovering that our local Asian Supermarket had begun supplying green mangos, I had a wonderful conversation with the owner and another customer.  The customer provided me with some wonderful tips, the first of which was that, if available, use sour green mangos, and don't be afraid to add other ingredients, suggesting that carrot works well.  And as we finished up, she mentioned "don't forget the coriander"! 
  • If i don't have coriander, I replace it with Vietnamese Mint, that is growing in a pot outside the back door.