Page 23 - ALG Issue 4 2020

Som tum – green papaya salad
Green papaya is hands down my favourite Thai dish. Traditionally, papaya is picked while still green, long before it’s ripe, but a combination of carrot
and white cabbage provide a lovely local alternative here in the UK. If you do wish to make it with green papaya, check your local Asian grocery store.
A Thai restaurant I frequented while living in Northern California served me a perfectly spicy version of this salad upon my request for some heat. While chatting with the waitress I said that the spice was just the right amount and inquired how many chillies were added. She replied 2; I then asked how many she used when she made it for herself. She replied 8!
Serves 4-6
75g blanched peanuts, toasted and roughly chopped, reserve 2 tbsp for garnish
350g carrot, grated
150g cabbage, shredded 2 small garlic cloves
12 French beans, trimmed and sliced in half or 3 long Thai beans, sliced into 2.5cm (1 inch) pieces
2 green Thai chillies
2 tomatoes, each cut into 6 wedges
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp palm sugar or coconut sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce or 1/2 tbsp tamari for gluten free
salt, to taste
Preheat the oven to 200°C / Gas Mark 6. Place the peanuts on a dry baking tray. Toast for 5-8 minutes or until turning golden and smelling fragrant. Be sure to move the nuts around the baking tray at least once while toasting. Cool and roughly chop with a knife or food processor.
Prepare the carrot and cabbage and set aside. Using a mortar and pestle (or a metal bowl and the end of a rolling pin) pound the garlic, green beans and chillies, until well smashed. Add the tomatoes and pound a few times just to get the juices out.
If you do wish to make it with green papaya, check your local Asian grocery store
In a separate bowl, big enough to toss the salad in, combine the lime juice, sugar and soy sauce.
Add the carrots and cabbage, peanuts, and tomato mixture to the bowl. Mix well with a spoon and use the pestle to gently push down and slightly bruise the vegetables. This helps the vegetables to absorb the flavours of the salad.
Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more chilli for heat, sugar for sweet, lime for sour or salt/soy sauce for saltiness, if needed. Try to achieve a balance of all the flavours. Garnish with the remaining peanuts.
All recipes are taken from Erin’s book “The Veg Table” available at www.naturalcookeryschool.com
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 23