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Green papaya salad ( km, បុកល្ហុង, lo, ຕຳຫມາກຫຸ່ງ and th, ส้มตำ) is a spicy salad made from shredded unripe papaya. It was possibly created by the Lao people but is eaten throughout
Continental Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
( Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
, Thailand, Vietnam),
Xishuangbanna Xishuangbanna, Sibsongbanna or Sipsong Panna ( Tham: , New Tai Lü script: ; ; th, สิบสองปันนา; lo, ສິບສອງພັນນາ; shn, သိပ်းသွင်ပၼ်းၼႃး; my, စစ်ဆောင် ...
(from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
), and considered a
national dish A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs that can be ...
in both Laos and Thailand. '' CNN'' included a variation on their list of the ''World's 50 most delicious foods.''


History

Papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...
and chili peppers were introduced to Southeast Asia by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the 17th century from the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
. Although it is unknown when papayas entered Laos specifically, they had already been integrated into Lao culture by the time of Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix's visit in 1836. Thai historian
Sujit Wongthes Sujit Wongthes (or Wongthet) (b. 1945) is a Thai journalist, historian, and author. Biography Wongthes attended Silpakorn University, graduating from the archaeology program there. During his time at university, he wrote for the student journal ...
has speculated that the green papaya salad originated in the communities of ethnic Chinese–Lao settlers living in what is now Central Thailand, who adopted the ancient Lao tradition of preparing salads from fruits, called ''tam som'', to make salads from papayas. The new dish became known as ''som tam'' during the early Rattanakosin period (late 18th to early 19th centuries) and, along with the papaya, then spread to today's Northeast Thailand following the construction of the Northeastern railway line during the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. The dish became more popular after the opening of
Mittraphap Road Mittraphap Road (, , ) or Highway 2 (, ) is one of the four primary highways in Thailand, along with Phahonyothin Road (Highway 1), Sukhumvit Road (Highway 3), and Phetkasem Road (Highway 4). It runs from Saraburi to Nong Khai. The road was origi ...
in 1957, helping bring new papaya cultivars into the region, and has since become widely adopted by the ethnic Lao people of both Isan and Laos. Likewise, the hot flavour also spread to Isan and Laos from Central Thailand, which had been introduced to chilli peppers first. However, chilli peppers, like papayas, were already fully integrated in the Lao territory by the time French explorer Henri Mouhot visited Laos, in 1861, and also in the Lao traditional culinary recipes. Furthermore, during the 1950s and 1960s, green papaya salad and other Lao dishes were rarely known in Bangkok and could only be found around the boxing stadium that gathered boxers and fans from Northeastern Thailand, as well as in mobile food carts outside construction sites with workers from Northeastern Thailand and gas stations serving long-distance bus drivers. During the standardization of the Thai national cuisine, green papaya salad was among the Northeastern or Lao dishes to be included into the Thai national cuisine and modified by reducing the amount of chilli peppers and increasing the amount of sugar. Green papaya salad is considered a
national dish A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs that can be ...
in both Laos and Thailand.


Preparation

The dish combines the five main basic tastes: sourness of the lime, the spiciness of the chili, saltiness and savoriness of the fish sauce, and sweetness of
palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar is sometimes qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed s ...
. The ingredients are mixed and pounded in a mortar, which is reflected in the Khmer, Lao and Thai names for the dish that literally mean "pounded papaya". In Laos, green papaya salad is one of the traditional staples of the Lao. Pounded salads in Laos all fall under the parent category of ''tam som'', which may or may not contain green papaya, however, when no specific type of ''tam som'' is mentioned, it is generally understood to refer to green papaya salad. For absolute clarity, however, the name ''tam maak hoong'' may be used, since this name means "pounded papaya". In Thailand, it is customary that a customer ask the preparer to make the dish suited to his or her tastes. To specifically refer to the original style of papaya salad as prepared in Laos or Isan, it is known as or ''som tam Lao'' or simply as ''tam Lao'' and the dish as prepared in central Thailand may be referred to as ''som tam Thai''. Traditionally, the local variety of green papaya salad in the streets of Bangkok is very spicy due to the addition of a fistful of chopped hot bird's eye chili. However, with its rising popularity among tourists, it is now often served less spicy as it used to be in the past.


Additional ingredients

Together with the papaya, some or most of the following secondary items are added and pounded in the mortar with the pestle: * Asparagus beans *Brined "rice field crabs". These belong to the freshwater crab genera ''Sayamia'', ''Chulathelphusa'', and ''Esanthelphusa'' (previously classified as part of the genus '' Somanniathelphusa''), which all belong to the Gecarcinucid crab subfamily
Parathelphusinae ''Arachnothelphusa rhadamanthysi''Cave crab, Borneo Parathelphusinae is a subfamily of freshwater crabs, which was formerly placed in the family Parathelphusidae; they are mainly found in South and Southeast Asia, but also found elsewhere in ...
. found in flooded rice fields and canals.
Isan people The Isan people ( th, คนอีสาน, , ; lo, ຄົນອີສານ; my, အီသန် လူမျိုး) or literally Northeastern people are an ethnic group group native to Northeastern Thailand with an estimated population of ...
eat the entire crab, including the shell. * Chili pepper * Dried shrimp * Fish sauce *
Garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...
* Monosodium glutamate * Hog plums * Lime slice and lime juice *
Palm sugar Palm sugar is a sweetener derived from any variety of palm tree. Palm sugar is sometimes qualified by the type of palm, as in coconut palm sugar. While sugars from different palms may have slightly different compositions, all are processed s ...
* Shrimp paste * Fish paste *Raw Thai eggplant *
Cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
or grape tomatoes (green or ripe) Green papaya salad is often served with
glutinous rice Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose ...
and ''
kai yang Kai yang or gai yang ( th, ไก่ย่าง, , literally meaning "grilled chicken"), also known as kai ping or gai ping ( th, ไก่ปิ้ง), or pīng kai ( lo, ປີ້ງໄກ່, ), is a dish originating from the Lao people of ...
''/''ping gai'' (grilled chicken). It can also be eaten with fresh rice noodles or simply as a snack by itself with, for instance, crispy pork rinds. The dish is often accompanied by raw green vegetables such as
water spinach ''Ipomoea aquatica'', widely known as water spinach, is a semi- aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. ''I. aquatica'' is generally believed to have been first domesticated in Southeast Asia. It is widely cultivate ...
and white cabbage wedges on the side to mitigate the spiciness of the dish.


Variations

It is believed to have originated in Laos, from where it was exported into Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Variations of the dish are found throughout Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and as well as in the West, where it is more commonly known by its Thai name. A non-spicy green papaya salad version also exists in Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, which is much sweeter; it often contains crushed peanuts and is less likely to have fish paste or brined crab. Dried brine shrimp are used in this Central Thai version. There are also versions that make use of unripe
mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...
es, apples,
cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.
s,
carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...
s and other firm vegetables or unripe fruit. Besides using varieties of fruits or vegetables as the main ingredient a popular option is to use vermicelli rice noodles wherein the dish is known as ''tam sua''. Instead of papaya, other ingredients can be used as the main ingredient. Popular variations in Laos and Thailand include the salad with: *Cucumber, usually the small variety (''tam maak taeng'', ''tam taengkwa''); *Green and unripe mango (''tam maak muang'', ''tam mamuang''); *Green and unripe
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
s (''tam maak kuai'', ''tam kluai''); *Hard and unripe santol (''tam krathon''); * Banana flowers (''tam hua pli''); * Malay gooseberry (''tam mayom''); * Pomelo (''tam som o''); *'' Mu yo'' sausage (''tam mu yo''); *Mixed fruit (''tam phonlamai ruam''); *
Coconut rice Coconut rice is a dish prepared by soaking white rice in coconut milk or cooking it with coconut flakes. As both the coconut and the rice-plant are commonly found in the tropics all-around the world, coconut rice too is found in many cultures th ...
(''khao man som tam''); *'' Tam Thaad'', a papaya salad that has many ingredients present in the same tray instead of the dish for more convenience to eat in a group and it can also give a feeling of better taste.


Reception

The Thai variation ''som tam'' has been listed at number 46 on ''World's 50 most delicious foods'' compiled by '' CNN Go'' in 2011 and 2018.


Gallery

File:Som tam thai.JPG, Thai green papaya salad with peanuts File:Som tam pu.jpg, Green papaya salad with brined rice paddy crabs (''som tam pu'') File:Tam phonla mai ruam.jpg, Green papaya salad with mixed fruit (''tam phonlamai ruam'') File:Somtam huapli832.jpg, Green papaya salad with banana flowers (''tam hua pli'') File:Tam mu yo.jpg, Green papaya salad with '' mu yo'' sausage (''tam mu yo'') File:Tam mamuang pla haeng thot.jpg, A variation of the salad with green mango instead of papaya and dried anchovies (''tam mamuang pla haeng thot'') File:Tam maphrao on sen mi krop 02.jpg, ''Tam maphrao on sen mi krop'': a variation with soft coconut meat and deep-fried rice noodle


See also

*
List of fruit dishes This is a list of notable fruit dishes. Fruit dishes are those that use fruit as a primary ingredient. Condiments prepared with fruit as a primary ingredient are also included in this list. Fruit dishes * * ' * * * * * * * * * ...
* List of salads * Atchara


References


Further reading

* Cummings, Joe. (2000). ''World Food: Thailand''. UK: Lonely Planet Publishers. pp. 157–8. * Williams, China ‘’et al.’’. (). ‘’Southeast Asia on a Shoestring: Big Trips on Small Budgets.’’ Lonely Planet. p. 31. * Brissenden, Rosemary. (2007). ''Southeast Asian food: Classic and Modern Dishes from Indonesia, Malaysia, ..'' Tuttle Publishing. pp. 434 – 439. * McDermoot, Nancie. (1992). ''Real Thai: The Best of Thailand’s Regional Cooking.'' Chronicle Books. pp. 121 – 146. {{DEFAULTSORT:Papaya Salad Salads Vegetable dishes of Thailand Burmese cuisine Cambodian cuisine Lao cuisine Thai cuisine Vegetable dishes Fruit salads National dishes Papaya dishes