Delicious and easy papaya salad recipe that has some Thai flavors in it and it is a perfect side dish or easy lunch for a hot sunny day.

Green papaya salad

Now if you google for papaya salad, you will find that the recommendation is usually to make this with a green papaya. But if you cannot find that it also works wonders with a ripe (orange) papaya as I used here. Now the name for a Thai papaya salad is som tam thai. Som refers to acid and tam is all about the method of preparation which means crushed. As you guessed; a papaya salad is made with acid and the ingredients are crushed.

What goes into the papaya salad?

Now first you need to find the right ingredients for the papaya salad. There are many different varieties out there for this delicious salad but some ingredients are always the same:

papaya (usually shredded green papaya)
cherry tomatoes
shrimp paste or dried shrimps
carrots
Thai chilies
green beans

In addition to that I also added some mango (you can use green mango here too). Most of the ingredients can be found in Asian grocery stores or Asian markets. The main ingredient is the shredded papaya. If you can find a green unripe papaya you can absolutely use that.

How to make this easy salad

For making the papaya salad it helps if you have a julienne peeler. If not you can slice the ingredients in julienne strips with a sharp knife. To do that, it helps if you first slice the papaya and mango into thin slices and then cut those into thin strips. Take a look at the photos to know what it should roughly look like. It also works to use a vegetable peeler in combination with the sharp knife. A food processor might also do the trick although I have yet to find a perfect attachment to get the right julienne size.

Quickly blanch the green beans for about three minutes and place in ice cold water to stop the cooking process.

Now for making the shrimp paste you need two tablespoons of dried shrimp. You soak them in warm water for about 5 minutes and then add them to a clay mortar. Add the garlic cloves and palm sugar and grind to a paste. I love using palm sugar here for a more authentic taste but you can also use brown sugar or coconut sugar if you want.

The shrimps are the base of your dressing so add the fish sauce, soy sauce and lime juice and mix it well. Make sure to taste it and add a bit more sugar or more fresh lime juice to taste. It needs to be the perfect balance between sweet, sour and salty.

Assembling

Now add all the fresh ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix it with the sour dressing. Add fresh herbs (Thai basil or fresh mint is delicious) and serve with a side of sticky rice. Not necessary but that goes well with this Thai salad! O and don’t forget to sprinkle with some crunchy peanuts

Can you prepare the papaya salad in advance?

Yes you absolutely can! Even better, if you do make the salad earlier it will soak up the flavors even more and make your taste buds sing when you start eating it. It is definitely one of my favorite Thai recipes. Keep it in an airtight container until ready to use.

Additions and variations

This recipe for papaya salad is more or less made in the traditional way, but as with anything you can make variations that are either small or big. You use pretty simple ingredients so I would always suggest to stick to the original if you’re making this for the first time. Make additions and changes if you make it the next time. That way you know if changes will have the desired effect.

Adding some green onions is always an easy addition. But there are many different ways to make this Thai food. Even in Thailand itself you will find different varieties based on the region and place where you are. Even throughout the rest of Southeast Asia you will also find different flavor profiles.

In some instances there is tamarind paste added to the dressing. Tamarind is also quite sour and will be delicious too. If not using tamarind you might need more lime.

Adding some sliced cucumber is also delicious and easy to do, to make it even fresher.

What to serve with the papaya salad?

Of course you can eat the papaya salad on it’s own as an easy lunch, but it also works really well when paired with this porchetta recipe for instance.