Som tam: Thai green papaya salad made with the Laos mortar
While visiting London's Borough Market, I came across an authentic Laos mortar with wooden pestle at Raya, a Thai stall operated by a friendly family. I collect mortars and couldn’t resist buying this beautiful piece. The Thai family explained to me how to use the Laos mortar to prepare som tam, the famous green papaya salad of Thailand.
A Laos mortar?
A Laos mortar is narrow and tall, and made of clay. The pestle is made of wood. The owners of Raya assure me that with the Laos mortar, I will get the true taste of som tam.
The technique is to pound and stir at the same time. The pot is made out of clay, so be careful with the wooden pestle. You're not making pesto or curry, so don't use too much force. Don't have a Laos mortar? Then use another mortar or a mixing bowl with a sturdy wooden spoon.
What's in som tam
If you want to prepare som tam, you first need to visit the Asian supermarket.
Green papaya is essential
Som tam is all about green papaya. Actually, green papaya is just the unripe fruit and not a type of papaya. In som tam, the papaya is grated and placed in ice-cold water for about 15 minutes. The cold water makes it crispy. Next you have to dry the papaya thoroughly so your salad doesn’t become soggy.
Yardlong beans from the Asian supermarket
Furthermore, to make a real som tam you need yardlong beans. These are also known as Chinese long beans. You can find those beans in the Asian supermarket. Not in stock? Then use French green beans that you blanch first. With long beans, blanching is not necessary because you can eat them raw.
Palm sugar
Finally, for som tam you also need palm sugar. This sugar comes in semi-spherical disks. You can also find it in Asian stores. Using a chef's knife, grate very fine flakes of the sugar. You can also use a mandolin. Palm sugar has a paste-like consistency, melts quickly and is very tasty. Palm sugar also doesn’t taste as sweet as regular sugar.
Getting Started: Raya's recipe for som tam
Ingredients for 4 people
For the sauce:
- 1.5 tablespoons palm sugar
- 1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
For the salad:
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 red Thai chili peppers
- ½ green papaya
- 1 carrot
- 3 green beans or 15 green beans
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1.5 tablespoons dried shrimp
- 30 g peanuts
- ½ lime
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Step 1: making the sauce
Mix the palm sugar, tamarind pulp and fish sauce until the sugar is dissolved. Then you set the sauce aside. That's it.
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Step 2: prepare the som tam
First, peel the garlic cloves. Remove the seeds from the chili peppers and coarsely chop them. Peel the papaya and carrot and grate them into long, fine julienne. Then put them in ice-cold water for 15 minutes. Drain the papaya and carrot and pat them dry.
Meanwhile, cut the beans into 1-inch pieces. Are you using French green beans? If so, blanch them briefly. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Hydrate the dried shrimp with some hot water and drain.
Next, roast the peanuts and cut the lime into 2 smaller pieces.
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Step 3: using the Laos mortar
Crush the garlic and chilies in the mortar. Add the shrimp and pound further to a paste. Now add half of the peanuts and continue pounding. Use the other half as a finishing touch.
The beans are next. You only need to crack them with the pestle so that they absorb all the flavors. You should not crush them completely. Then add in the sauce and continue mixing.
Add the tomatoes and start stirring and pounding alternately. To do this, use a spoon in one hand, and the pestle in the other. Finally, add the carrot, papaya and lime. Pound and stir for another two minutes just so that all the flavors are nicely blended.
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Step 4: serve the som tam
Spoon the som tam onto plates and top with the remaining peanuts. Top with some cilantro leaves and a few slices of cucumber. You can serve the som tam as is or turn it into a full meal with chicken and rice.
![SG 36 somtam]()
