Som Tam (Papaya Salad)

This is the ninth post in the Thailand! travel series of my eats in Bangkok. Other posts include Thip Samai, Best Pad Thai in Bangkok? and Raan Jay Fai, Best Drunken Noodle in Bangkok, Maeklong Railway Market, Floating Markets (Damnoen Saduak), Street Foods of Bangkok, Part I, and Street Foods of Bangkok, Part II, Fun Fruits in Thailand, and Somphong Thai Cooking School. 

Som tam.

It's the perfect blend of savory umami, sweet, spicy, and tart. It's cool, refreshing, and a delightful blend of textural contrasts: the crunchy peanuts, crispy vegetables, and juicy tomatoes. Heck, it's even been named as one of world's 50 most delicious foods by CNN.

Som tam literally means "sour pounded" in Thai, and is a refreshingly delicious green papaya salad that's popular all throughout Thailand. It originates from the northeastern part of Thailand, (called Isaan) and due to its proximity to Laos, derives quite a bit of influence from Laos cuisine.

I partly chose this particular cooking class because it included this salad, which I've always wanted to learn how to make. I was thrilled to learn that it's super easy. Getting the ingredients may be the hardest (though still very doable!) part.

The main ingredient in this salad is the green papaya. You want your papaya to be as unripen as possible. It should be really hard and firm. This recipe won't work with papaya that has started to ripen, turn orange, or become soft and sweet.

At the market, Koy showed us an example of a perfect papaya.

I'm pretty sure they sell these in the US, because my mom used to make a version of green papaya salad when I was a kid.

First, you need thin, julienne strips of papaya. Please note, the above papaya is actually borderline too ripe for this recipe (you can see how it's turning orange), but Koy, our instructor, was still able to use it to show us how to create the julienne strips for the salad.

Method 1: Simple Knife
If you have no special tools, you can create the strips with just a sharp knife. This is how a lot of street vendors do it in Thailand.

First, whack away at the papaya to create a bunch of vertical "cuts" into the side (see photo above).

Second, slice these strips onto a plate. It looks easier than it is. I tried to do it, and it was tricky slicing off thin, evenly sized strips.

Method 2: Use a Tool!
Of course, if you feel uncomfortable chopping and cutting, the much easier way is to use a papaya slicer. They recommended the brand Kiwi, which I was surprised to find out is actually available on Amazon! With this slicer, it's easy: you just peel away!

I guess you can probably use a mandolin slicer or any other tools designed for shredding carrots and other related vegetables.

Though you can make this with just papaya, we did it with a mixture of papaya and carrots. It adds a nice color and the two work well together.

Gather all your ingredients. You can get long beans at any Chinese supermarket (we eat them all the time too!). Most of the less common ingredients, such as dried shrimp, palm sugar, and tamarind can probably be found at an Asian grocery (I'm pretty sure I've seen them in Boston).

Now, we will pound it all together in a mortar and pestle.

Notice how the som tam mortar and pestle is a little bit taller and narrower? I'm not sure how well this recipe would work with the lower, flatter marble type we typically see in the US, though I'm definitely planning to try it! Alternatively, it's not too expensive to buy a proper one such as this wooden one, though the nice earthenware ones are definitely more expensive.

We begin with the dry ingredients. Pound your garlic, dried shrimp, fresh Thai chili, and peanuts with your mortar and pestle until they are crushed.

Add the wet ingredients: tamarind juice, fish juice, sugar, and the lime. Keep the skin on one lime edge; squeeze out just the juice for the other lime wedge. At this point, to avoid squirting tart acids into your eyes, do a "pound and stir" motion with a spoon. Mix the ingredients together.

Once the sauce is nicely mixed, add the papaya strips, carrot strips (if you have any), long beans, and tomatoes.

Continue the pounding + stirring motion with the spoon and pestle until everything is well mixed.

Just for fun, we also learned how to make "tomato roses." It's actually not as hard as it looks, and the end result is gorgeous! Using a sharp knife and starting at the top of the tomato, slowly cut off the skin of a tomato (we used these pretty orange ones), trying to keep the width consistent (about 2-3 cm or 1/2 inch). Keep the bottom of the tomato to serve as a base.

Gradually roll the skin in a spiral, trying to keep it as tight as possible.

How pretty is that?

Dump your som tam into a bowl (juices and all). Ideally, it's a pretty Thai bowl for your pictures.

For garnish, top with the remaining crushed peanuts and optionally top with your rose.

So pretty, so delicious, and healthy!

I could eat this everyday.

Enjoy!

Som Tam Thai [Papaya Salad]
3/4 cup shredded green papaya
1/2 cup long beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 Thai chilies
2 cloves of garlic
2 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 tsp ground dried shrimp
2 T crushed peanuts
1/2 lime, sliced into quarters
1 T palm sugar
1 1/2 T fish sauce
2 T tamarind juice

Pound garlic, chili, dried shrimp, and 1 T of the peanuts in a mortar and pestle. Add tamarind juice, fish sauce, sugar, and lime (1 wedge with skin, 1 wedge add juice only). Continue to pound and stir. Add long beans, papaya, and tomatoes. Mix well, and top with remaining peanuts and optionally a tomato rose.

*Note*
Palm sugar can be found at most Asian supermarkets (I've definitely seen it in Boston). If necessary, regular sugar can probably be substituted, but add less, since it's a bit sweeter and more refined. 

Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Aged Balsamic

Sometimes, you really don't need much cooking skills to make a really fantastic dish.

I swear, if you have access to high quality ingredients, you're most of the way there. Really good ingredients naturally supply a ton of flavor and nutrients. The rest is simple. Just mix good ingredients together.

So easy.

And so, so good.

I had a seriously good beet salad the other day at home, and it was ridiculously easy to make.

In the past, I've always roasted my red beets whole, covered in foil in the oven. This method is great if you have tons of time and don't feel like handling the beets. Then I discovered the glorious oven-roasted golden beets, made through a method that caramelizes the beets beautifully in the oven.

Just recently, because I was short on time, (and because I had bought these monstrously huge beets that would have taken hours to roast whole), I decided to chop them up while raw and roast the pieces in the oven with just a splash of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

It worked out great. I cut my roasting time in half, and I found yet another way to prepare this versatile vegetable. Yes, I did have to deal with having slightly pink fingers (easily addressed with a pair of gloves), but the time saved was well worth it.

I tossed the roasted beets with high quality imported feta cheese and drizzled them with a beautiful aged balsamic vinegar.

What a gorgeous combination of flavors. It was healthy, flavorful, and simply delicious.

I can't wait to buy my next batch of beets.


Oven Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Aged Balsamic
serves 4-6 as an appetizer

2-3 whole beets, cut up into similar pieces (about 3-4 cups worth)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon of each?)
1-2 oz feta cheese (or to taste)
1-2 tsp aged balsamic (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 400 °F. Toss the beets with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes.

A few notes:

It's hard to write a precise recipe for this salad because so much of it is subjective. Some people like lots of cheese, others don't. Similarly, the amount of balsamic vinegar you add will really depend on the flavor of the particular one you bought. Slightly sweet balsamic vinegars work better for this salad. You could try reducing cheaper balsamic vinegar down with a bit of sugar.

I think quality of ingredients can make a huge difference in whether this salad is just ordinary or whether it pops. I used a more expensive, imported Greek feta cheese and a really nice 10-year aged balsamic vinegar that I purchased at Il Buco (post coming soon!) in New York City. It was fantastic, and I think it made a huge difference in the dish as well.

Enjoy!

Kohlrabi Crunch Salad

I love summer for so many reasons. Living on the East Coast, you really have a super short window in which to soak in the sun, eat outside, and enjoy fresh local produce.

This is my third year participating in a CSA (Community Support Agriculture). The first year, I bought a share with ReVision Urban Farms, which is a great nonprofit program that works in conjunction with a women's shelter to teach women real life work skills. The vegetables were fantastic, and it was my first time experiencing a farm share.

Last year, I signed up through my workplace with Siena Farms, whose beautiful produce is also used by the likes of Oleana, No. 9 Park, Menton, Market by Jean Georges, Upstairs on the Square, and Hungry Mother.

This year, my company decided to switch farms, mostly because people did not like having to deal with the various exotic vegetables that came out of Siena Farms (even though I personally loved experimenting with it all!).

So, this year I've been enjoying my share from Silverbrook Farms. It's been fun in a different way. They give us farm fresh eggs, jams, cheeses, along with fresh vegetables from their farm.

Recently, we received a few stalks of kohlrabi, one of my favorite summertime vegetables.

Kohlrabi is in the same family as cabbage, and related to broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. The texture is crunchy, not unlike broccoli stem, but better!

Most kohlrabi you see in the supermarket does not come with the leaves attached. My guess is that the leaves draw water away from the bulbous part, thus reducing the shelf life of the kohlrabi itself. At farmers markets you are more likely to see the entire plant, which is cool because you can eat the leaves too (more on that in another post!).

My favorite way to enjoy kohlrabi is just to eat it raw, tossed with some salt, sesame oil, soy sauce, and a sprinkling of crushed red peppers. Remove the tough outer skin (I used a knife, but you could try using a peeler), and slice into thin matchsticks. Toss with salt and sesame oil to taste. You can add soy sauce and a bit of minced garlic too if you'd like, though it's not necessary. Sprinkle with a bit of crushed red pepper flakes.

Eat immediately, or store in the refrigerator overnight for even better results.

A perfect, summer treat.