Som Tum refers to the Thai style papaya salad. It is a classic Thai dish, commonly associated with the Isaan area but served all over Thailand.
As the papaya is often refered to as the Powerhouse Of Digestive Enzyme Nutrition, many people lived on a diet of Som Tum.
There are three typical different ways to prepare Somtum. It can be “Somtum Thai” which has peanuts mixed in, “Somtum Bu” with small pickled crabs pounded in, or “Somtum Lao sai pla ra” with the juice of pickled mudfish. The dish can be eaten as a snack as a salad.
The basic ingredients include finely shredded Thai green papaya, 1 tomato cut into wedges, roasted peanuts, dried shrimp, sugar, fish sauce, clove garlic, lemon juice and fresh chili pepper.
To prepare the dish, first of all, pound together chili and garlic until fine. Then, add papaya, tomato, sugar, fish sauce, lemon juice, peanuts and dried shrimp. Mixed all the ingredients together. Serve with sliced cabbage.