Som Tum or Som Tam (Thai Papaya Salad)

Som Tum or Som Tam according to Thai dictionary means a kind of Thai food salad made from fruits such as payaya etc. pounded and combined with ingredients, sour taste and for some locality calls “Tum Som”.

Som = orange or to have sour taste
Tum/Tam = to pound

Som Tum is a highly popular food for Thai people especially in northeastern Thailand (Issan). Som Tum is a Thai common central language but for Issan people they call Tam Buk Hoong because Buk hoong is the Lao/Issan word for papaya. Som Tum from Issan people have so many varieties because they will use so many kinds of vegetables or fruits for making Som Tum like papaya, yard-long beans, raw banana, banana blossom, star gooseberry, cucumber, pineapple, tamarind etc. Besides there are so much variety in Som Tum itself too like I’m going to give you some idea about them now.

Som Tum Thai - not add salted crab (Bpoo kem/Bpoo Dong) or pickled fish but add dried shrimp and roasted peanut instead. The taste will be more sweet and sour. Some people like to put salted crab into too so we call Som Tum Thai Sai Bpoo.

Som Tum Bpoo - add salted crab instead of dried shrimp and roasted peanut, get a little salty taste from salted crab.

Som Tum bpla-ra - add pickled fish instead of dried shrimp, very popular in Issan area.

Tam Sua - add Thai fermented rice vermicelli instead of papaya, this one also quite popular in Issan.

Som Tum Lao - add Thai olive

Other than that at the present some place also add another material like roast neck pork, horse crab or pickled mussel.

Som Tum is also just like the second main dish from sticky rice for Issan people, can eat every time and every meal. The one of common civilization of Issan people is if they’re making Som Tum they will call the neighborhood for joying. They have the word that say eat alone not so tasty like jointly with others.

In Thailand we will be able to find this Thai dish really easily because it is a very simply food and you can get it anywhere, either from restaurant or even vendor shop beside the street. It is held that Som Tum is the favourite food for everyone.

Traditionally Thai people will have Som Tum with sticky rice as a meal accompanied with vegetables and also roasted chicken (Gai Yang).

Som Tum is one of my favourite dish while I was in Thailand too. I don’t know why I didn’t crave for this dish so much while I’m here though. Maybe because I couldn’t find any place in here that they can make a good Som Tum just like when I got from Thailand. Or either I have to make it myself but you know every time I will end up disappointing myself…because I couldn’t make it so tasty like what I used to get in my motherland. It’s the right recipe, but just something not right or missing I don’t know why …maybe just not the same atmosphere I think. Anyway Richard and everyone I apologize if sometime in the future you will get to try the original Som Tum in Thailand that will have a better taste than my Som Tum recipe.

Som Tum Thai recipe (2 serving)
- 1/2 cup raw papaya, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 cup carrot, peeled and shredded
*or can use 1 whole cup of papaya but this one will get more varities and the color*
- 2 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked in water and drain
- 3 yard-long beans, cut into 1 inch length
- 1 medium sized tomato, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- 5-6 Thai hot chilies (Phrik Khee Nuu)
- 1 tbsp roasted peanut
- 3 tbsp palm sugar
- 3 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp tamarind juice

Pound the chilies with garlic thoroughly in a mortar, follow with dried shrimp and pound again just for softly. Add yard-long beans, papaya, carrot into the mortar. Pound to be crushed.

Add tomato and roasted peanut, and use a pestle and a spoon help to mixed up together in the mortar.

Season to taste with palm sugar, Thai fish sauce, lime juice and tamarind juice into the mixture, stir well. This step you can try and see if anything you want to add more…some like more sweet, some like more sour.

And finally you will get Som Tum Thai serve with sticky rice (if you have) or can have like a snack with fresh vegetables like Chinese cabbage, cabbage, yard-long beans. Or some people will have it with roasted chicken and cool beer depending on your suitability.

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