Name: Som Tam (Thai-Style Green Papaya Salad)
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 2 medium garlic cloves; 1 to 2 fresh green Thai chiles, to taste; 4 cherry tomatoes, halved; 3/4 ounces long beans or haricots verts, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 1/4 cup); 1/4 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts; 3 tablespoons dried small shrimp (such as Greenlike); 1 1/2 tablespoons palm sugar; 1 1/2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce; 1 tablespoon tamarind juice; 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice; 1 cup julienne-cut green papaya (1/16- to 1/8-inch-thick strips) (see Note)

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Som Tam (Thai Green Papaya Salad) — Photo:
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Total Time:

15 mins

Servings:

2 servings

I’m always mesmerized by the rhythmic sounds and fragrant aromas from my Thai grandmother’s mortar and pestle. It’s one of my earliest culinary memories: Her pounding and grinding whole spices, coriander root, garlic, or herbs in her favorite stone apparatus signaled that a luscious curry paste or sauce was underway. She insists those flavors can’t be matched — not without using that ancient, reliable kitchen tool. And she’s right.

Dating back to the Stone Age, the mortar, a bowl- or cup-shaped vessel, and the pestle, a clublike utensil, are two of the earliest innovations in food prep. Used in tandem, they pulverize ingredients into pulp, powder, or paste, releasing essential oils and flavor. Designs and materials have evolved to fit different cuisines and ingredient textures and sizes, but the function remains unchanged.

Time-saving food processors, grinders, and blenders can turn foods into pastes and sauces, but they also chop, slice, and heat up food, altering flavors and consistencies. You can finely chop and smash foods using a knife, but turning them into a smooth paste is difficult — especially when working with foods with tough skins or fibrous ingredients such as ginger or lemongrass. (See the Best Mortar and Pestles for specific recommendations.)

Som tam, a Thai salad my grandmother often made, demonstrates the mortar and pestle’s power. The Thai word som means “sour,” and tam means “to pound,” the action that sets the foundation for the distinct aromatic, tangy flavors in chef Nooror Somany Steppe’s recipe. Her som tam is characterized by the complex tastes that develop from hand-blending fresh ingredients.

Ingredients

2 medium garlic cloves
1 to 2 fresh green Thai chiles, to taste
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 ounces long beans or haricots verts, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
3 tablespoons dried small shrimp (such as Greenlike)
1 1/2 tablespoons palm sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 cup julienne-cut green papaya (1/16- to 1/8-inch-thick strips) (see Note)

Directions

Grind aromatics

Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Roughly pound garlic and chiles using a mortar and pestle (preferably wooden) until broken down and mixture starts to form a paste.

Mix in vegetables

Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Add tomatoes, long beans, peanuts, and dried shrimp to mortar, and roughly pound using pestle until peanuts are crushed and tomatoes are bruised.

Flavor and dress papaya

Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Add palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind juice, and lime juice, and stir together using a large spoon. Add papaya, and lightly pound using pestle while simultaneously scooping and tossing mixture with spoon until dressing is absorbed. (Avoid over-pounding; papaya should remain crisp.) Serve immediately.

Suggested pairing

Wine Super-tart, light-bodied white: Jo Landron Domaine de la Louvetrie Muscadet

Note

Before it ripens and becomes sweet, papaya has a mild, cucumber-like taste and refreshing crunch. In this recipe, it picks up the tangy, pungent flavors of the pestle-ground dressing. Papaya continues to ripen and develop sweetness after it is picked. To preserve unripe green papaya’s crisp-vegetable characteristic, store it in the refrigerator. Peel and use only as much papaya from the whole fruit as is needed. Any leftover unpeeled papaya can be tightly wrapped and stored in refrigerator up to two weeks. Alternatively, peel whole papaya, and cut into chunks; freeze in an airtight container up to one month.