The abundance of fresh ingredients is ever-present in Thai cuisine. A popular Thai dish that showcases fresh vegetables is som tum Thai (ส้มตำไทย) or green papaya salad. This is one of our personal favorites and can be found anywhere in Thailand, from restaurants to food stalls.
Som tum Thai is a fantastic raw Thai salad often made of shredded unripe papaya, sliced tomatoes, raw yardlong beans, peanuts, dried mini shrimp, and fresh garlic. Sometimes we find shreds of carrots and green or purple cabbage to add a pop of color.
A sweet, salty, tangy sauce made of sugar, lime juice, and fish sauce completes the dish. It can be easily altered by leaving out an ingredient or two (no shrimp for vegetarians), but don’t be afraid to try it in its original form.
Some Like Som Tum Hot!
This dish can be served quite spicy. Vendors typically have a bowl of hot chilies to add and the customer can request how many chilies they want. It may take a little coaxing to get the vendors to put in more than one chili for Western customers. We usually get two or three chilies.
The word for chili is prik. If you don’t want any chilies, say, “Mai ao prik.” (I don’t want chilies.)
There are several variations to this popular Thai salad including:
- Som tum bpoo blpah rah is green papaya salad with whole baby fermented crabs and a pungent fish sauce
- Som tum talae is seafood papaya salad and often has a mixture of shrimp, baby crab, squid, and mussels
- Som tum mamuang is green mango salad
- Som tum khao poht is corn salad
- Tum daeng is cucumber salad
How to Eat Som Tum
Eat som tum by itself but it’s better with sticky rice, which is served in small plastic baggies. Take a ball of rice the size of a quarter, make a slight indent with your thumb, and use it to pinch or scoop up the papaya salad. We recommend eating som tum with sticky rice because it cools your mouth and allows you to mop up the sauce.
We enjoy pairing it with skewers of grilled chicken. Som tum is so popular and easy to make that it seems almost every family, restaurant, and food stall has their own special recipe. No matter where you are in Thailand, there’s bound to be delicious som tum close by.
Is there a recipe?
Are you still in CM?
I want to thank the both of you for this blog. I have enjoyed reading all of it. For the past 2 summers I have traveled and worked in Thailand in both the NGO world, at schools, tutoring privately, and a short time (1 week) position at a psychiatric hospital in Korat (Nakhon Ratchisima.) I LOVED every moment of all my experiences in Thailand. Your blog brings up many memories. Probably the greatest memories of all are the feelings the first time I went there and how the things about the Thai life that I questioned the most and didn’t know if I could be comfortable with are what made me fall in love with Thai life the most. These things are: taking a shower/bath the Thai way: pouring scoops of water on oneself; learning to “squat;” learning how to naturally beat the heat; especially, when you live with no A/C; and as this part of the blog talks about, experiencing the Thai food: Som Tum, Cow Neow, Larb, pad prik, and many others. (I really like Issan food and Som Tum, no matter what the main ingredient is.) Sorry now I’m going on a tangent, but the whole of this blog brings back so many happy memories.
I have my bachelors in International Affairs and I just graduated with my masters in social work back here in the states. The next step is to make the big one: a move to Thailand. I really love it over there and I can tell that y’all do also – it shows in the way you talk about everything Thailand in your blog, including how you quit your jobs, how you lived back in the states, and how y’all live now.
I wish you both all the best and I hope that our paths may cross physically in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with visiting Thailand. It’s awesome that you are preparing yourself for the day in the near future that you finally make the move here. We’re glad you found us and that we sparked some good memories from the times you’ve visited. And the food… it would be hard to live here without loving the food, and more power to you for loving Isaan style! Good luck with everything and stay in touch.
This looks fantastic – thanks for sharing the recipe!
I just followed you guys on Twitter so I can read more :)
Thank you so much for reading, and thanks for the follow :)
Love it and make it very often !
You make som tum yourself? You go girl!
I certainly do! Here is the recipe. Have a great day!
This looks -and sounds – really delicious. Glad you enjoyed it guys.
Adding this one to my list of Thai foods to try when I am there. Can’t wait.
Awesome! Glad we could show you something new for your trip :)
Haha, my first (and last) experience with this dish included expecting a vegetarian dish, tiny shrimp eyes looking at me, sitting at a small table in a dark street with cockroaches running & for some reason flying around, hitting boyfriend’s head and then the table. Didn’t like it too much… But it sure looks delicious on your photos.
That’s horrible! It’s true that ambiance does have a huge effect on the meal itself… but flying cockroaches?! That gives us the heebie jeebies. Maybe a second chance is in order while it’s still sunny? It really is delicious :)
Yeah I guess I’ll try it again next time I’m in Thailand!
I need to try this! Whenever I go for Thai Food I always think about getting it but then order my usual. Your pics look soo good
Definitely give it a try! We never tried it back in the US, but we totally wish we would have been a little braver. The flavors are amazing :)
one of my favorite dishes in Thailand
It’s our go-to when we don’t want something too heavy :)
It is definitely one of our favorites from the various food stalls around. And like you say, you can make it as spicy as you like. The vendors always raise an eyebrow when I ask for it with 3 or 4 chilies. They usually watch me eat it and are amazed that I like it and don’t run for the moat screaming and yelling.
Hahah! Yes, every time we visit a new Som Tum vendor they confirm with us about 2 or 3 times…even if we ask in Thai :)