~1323 cal · 39g protein · 264g carbs · 14g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Green papaya salad in a mortar with chilies, lime, and tomatoes
🇹🇭 Isan (Northeast)
Som tam comes from Isan, Thailand’s northeast, where it’s pounded to order at market stalls — you call out your chili count and the vendor’s pestle answers. Eaten with sticky rice and eaten daily, it balances sour, salty, sweet, and hot in one bite.
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🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 2 —
•
3 cups green papaya, shredded
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8 cherry tomatoes, halved
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1/2 cup long beans (or green beans), cut
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2–10, your call Thai bird chilies
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2 cloves garlic
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3 tbsp roasted peanuts
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1 tbsp dried shrimp
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1.5 tbsp fish sauce
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1 tbsp palm sugar
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2 limes
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2 cups cooked sticky rice, to serve
Instructions
1
Pound the garlic and chilies in a large mortar to a rough paste.
2
Add palm sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice; pound and stir into a dressing. Taste — it should hit sour first, then salty, sweet, hot.
3
Add the long beans and tomatoes; bruise them with a few gentle pounds.
4
Add the papaya in handfuls, pounding lightly and lifting with a spoon between strokes until dressed and barely softened.
5
Finish with peanuts and dried shrimp (or their swaps). Serve immediately with sticky rice pinched by hand.
Isan market-stall style.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Isan (Northeast). Thailand’s northeast: pounded salads, sticky rice, and fire.
🗺️
Thailand. The balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy in every bite.
🌍
Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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