Thai Pumpkin Custard – Sankaya Dessert

Thai pumpkin custard (Sankaya, สังข​ยา) is a popular Thai dessert which is often sold in fresh-food markets and as street food. To prepare this dessert, we stuff a whole pumpkin or kabocha (Asian winter squash) with a sweet coconut milk and egg custard which is then steamed. This is a very beautiful and aesthetic dessert with balanced textures which also show the influence of the Portuguese on Thai food.

In fact, due to Portuguese influence in the 1600s, eggs were added to Thai desserts and sweets. In Thai, this dessert is also called ‘Sankaya Fak Thong’, ‘Fak Thong’ referring to ‘golden squash’ (ฟัก​ทอง​).​ This dessert is also known in Cambodia where it is called ‘Sankhya lapov’. The Khmer word for pumpkin is ‘lapov’.

Thai Pumpkin Custard

Thai pumpkin custard (photo credit: verygoodrecipes.com)

Ingredients for 4-5 portions:

1 pumpkin (400-600g) 4 eggs 200ml coconut milk 300g palm sugar 2 TSP rice flour 1/s TSP salt 1000ml limewater 3-4 pandan leaves or pandanus flavour

Preparation:

First prepare the pumpkin: wash it and cut out the top, then remove all the seeds and stringy insides from the pumpkin. In the next step, soak the pumpkin in 1 litre of limewater for 20-30 minutes.

Then prepare the custard: put the four eggs in a large mixing bowl, add salt, coconut milk, rice flour and palm sugar. Add also your pandan leaves or pandanus flavour and mix everything well by hand. It is important that the palm sugar is completely dissolved. Then stain the mixture with cheesecloth and afterwards fill your pumpkin with this custard mixture and put it in a steamer with boiling water. That is to say, place the pumpkin inside the steamer basket and steam for about 40-45 minutes.

Finally take the pumpkin out, let it cool down and you’re ready to serve! Your pumpkin is now like a pie, simply cut a piece out ‘Sankaya’ dessert like pie (photo credit: Takeaway, wikimedia.org)

This recipe for steamed pumpkin custard comes from the marvellous cooking channel WhatRecipe.tv. In the following video, you can easily learn how to make this dessert.

I think Thai pumpkin custard is an amazing dessert that may also be a nice exotic pie for Halloween

Hope you’ll give this a try!

Yours, Sirinya

(P.S. for more information, check out my Thai Food Dictionary)

The ‘Khao Chae’ Royal Thai Summer Dish (ข้าว​แช่​)

The ‘Khao Chae’ (ข้าว​แช่) dish was originally a Mon recipe that had been adapted as a royal Thai dish in the palace. It goes back to the times of King Rama II (r. 1809 to 1824). The Thai version of this meal has more side dishes and condiments compared to the original Mon recipe.

‘Khao Chae’, a Royal Thai Dish

Ingredients for preparing Khao Chae at the Jim Thompson Restaurant in Bangkok*

Khao Chae, which means ‘rice soaked in cool water’, is a special dish because it is meant to be served particularly in the hot summer season. Hence, it is a refreshing Thai summer dish that is also eaten atSongkran, the Thai New Year Festival as a cooling meal. At the time of King Rama II, when people did not yet have the means to freeze water to ice cubes, the water was cooled by storing it in earthen ware pots in shady and dark places. Preparing side dishes for Khao Chae at the Jim Thompson Restaurant*

Traditionally, this was a Thai dish only served at the royal court but later, it was also made available for ordinary people. Since this is a special meal for the hot season, it is primarily prepared at this time of the year, from the middle of March to the end of April.

Today, the three main components of this dish are parboiled rice, water scented with jasmine (i.e. water which has jasmine flower floating in it) or Damask rose and crushed ice. The water is placed in a container with lid, it is called ‘Khuat Loh’, and left over night with a scented candle to give it the fragrance – the jasmine is only added when serving. It is also important to take parboiled rice so that the rice does not become too mashy when soaked in water. The side dishes are the components that make this dish tasty. In fact, there is a variety of recipes, nevertheless, the dishes and condiments are mostly the same. A royal Thai meal at the Jim Thompson Restaurant*

There are commonly six different side dishes:

Kapi balls (luk kapi, ลูก​กะปิ​) are made from shrimp paste. This paste consists, apart from shrimps, of shallots, garlic, wild ginger and palm sugar. These ingredients are mixed together, formed into balls and cooked. Stuffed shallots (hom daeng yat sai, หอมแดง​ยัด​ไส้​), the shallots are stuffed with a mix of ground fish meat, herbs, fish sauce, spices and palm sugar. Stuffed sweet peppers (phrik yuak sot sai, พริก​หยวก สอด​ไส้​), this is steamed pepper stuffed with a mix of ground pork, spices and herbs. After cooling down, the pepper is fried and wrapped in a lacy egg coat. Shredded sweet beef or pork (mu foi or nua foi), the respective meat is shredded and seasoned with palm sugar and fish sauce. After it is dried, the meat shreds are deep fried. Stir-fried sweet pickled Chinese turnips with eggs (chai po phat khai, ไช​โป๊​ผัด​ไข่​) Fresh fruits and vegetables, for example raw mango, cucumber, wild ginger, chillies and onions. They serve to balance the taste of the meal.

Royal Thai dish for the hot season at the Jim Thompson Restaurant*

Although ‘Khao Chae’ appears similar to boiled rice soup (khao tom), the taste and the way of eating the ‘soup’ is different. To enjoy this dish, take a small amount of rice and add a suitable amount of scented water with crushed ice. You should not put the condiments into your bowl but rather have small bites of the dishes which are then followed by the icy rice. Sometimes this meal is served with two-toned rice and followed by a sweet treat of mangos in syrup. Sometimes Khao chae is served with two-toned rice*

For instance, the Jim Thompson Restaurant in Bangkok offers this delicacy until the end of April and there are also workshops to learn preparing this meal.

Summing up, I find that ‘Khao Chae’ seems to be an extraordinary and amazingly delicious looking Thai dish. The combination of rice and ice also appears to be suitable for the hot summer season. Additionally, it is an aesthetically arranged meal that is appealing to the eye. Maybe you have the opportunity to try this meal? I would highly suggest that

Yours, Sirinya

* photo credit: Siwaphong Pakdeetawan, Instagram: @knack66

Thai Style Banana, Pineapple & Coconut Smoothie

Today I’d like to share with you a nice and easy recipe how to make a Thai style banana, pineapple & coconut Smoothie. Summertime is coming soon and this is a perfectly refreshing and tropical drink for the season. What is more, banana, pineapple and coconut are a good combination for a Thai style smoothie. To make it extra special, I suggest you put in a small drop of Pandanus (Pandan, in Thai: Bai Toey) flavour or some additional coconut extract The Pandanus flavour will make your smoothie a little greenish but gives your drink a nice aroma.

Thai Style Smoothie

banana, pineapple & coconut smoothie (photo credit: makeandtakes.com)

Ingredients for two smoothies:

1 large ripe banana, cut into chunks 2 cups of fresh pineapple, cut into chunks 1/2 cup of light or regular coconut milk 1/2 cup of ice 1 drop of Pandanus flavour and/or coconut extract (optional) additional sugar or sweetener, as to taste (optional)

Pandanus flavour (photo credit: templeofthai.com)

Preparation:

Put the banana and pineapple chunks with the coconut milk and the ice into a blender and mix until everything is smooth. Optionally, you may add a drop of pandanus flavour or coconut extract and additional sugar or sweetener, as to taste.

Tropical drink garnished with cream on top (photo credit: bakingbites.com) You may garnish your tropical drink with some cream and dried coconut flakes on top It’s perfect for breakfast but also as a snack or a dessert.

In addition, you can also make delicious ice-pops with this smoothie. You just need an ice pop container. When the mixture is nearly frozen, put in the popsicle sticks in centre. Freeze for at least five hours or preferably overnight. By the way, if you’ve acquired a taste for bananas and coconut now, you may also want to try ‘Kluai Buad Chi’ which is a Thai bananas in coconut milk dessert.

An easy-peasy recipe, isn’t it? Hope you’ll give it a try!

Yours, Sirinya

Tom Yum with Beef

Maybe you remember that I’ve recently done a recipe on Tom Yum Gung (ต้มยํากุ​้ง) which is a refreshing spicy Thai soup with lemongrass and shrimps. However, there is also the variant to prepare Tom Yum with beef and marrowbone or with pork (knuckle) instead of using vegetable or chicken stock. Tom Yum with beef is called ‘Tom Yum Nua’ in Thai. When this soup is prepared with pork it is called ‘Tom Yum Moo’. However, Tom Yum Gung is the most common variant of this soup type.

Tom Yum Soup with Beef Tom Yum with beef and a lot of coriander on top (photo taken by myself)

I think that cooking Tom Yum with beef and bone gives a much richer and tastier broth. As you can see in my photos, the soup looks darker and richer than Tom Yum prepared with vegetable stock. Nevertheless, the preparation of the soup with beef is nearly the same as for Tom Yum Gung.

Tom Yum Gung prepared with vegetable stock (photo credit: Jens Timmermann)

The only difference is that you replace the vegetable or chicken stock by the broth that you cook with water, beef and marrowbone. Maybe that is not to everyone’s taste and liking but it makes the soup much more aromatic and flavoured. Tom Yum Nua (photo taken by myself)

The ingredients for this soup are as follows:

approx. 300g beef & marrowbone (optionally you may also take pork or pork knuckle) 3-4 oyster mushrooms or champignon mushrooms 1/2 galangal which is also known as Siamese ginger 2 red onions or shallots 2 stalks of lemon grass 1-2 salad onions juice from 1-2 lemons kaffir lime leaves coriander/cilantro & its roots 2-3 fresh chillies (as you prefer) 1 litre vegetable or chicken stock 1-2 TSP chili paste (Thai: นํ้าพริก​เผา​ “nam prik pau”) 2-3 TSP fish sauce 3-4 TSP soy sauce optional small tomatoes

The preparation is very similar to Tom Yum Gung thus I won’t describe it here in detail. Hence, you may want to check out the general recipe here.

The following video by FoodTravel.tv shows you how to prepare the soup with meat. They take pork knuckle (‘Kha Mu’ in Thai) but you may also chose beef, the preparation is the same. There is only a Thai version with English subs of this video but I think it is comprehensive.

Maybe you’d like to give this recipe for Tom Yum with beef or pork a try?! It’s really worth it and also an alternative to the common variety with shrimps

Yours, Sirinya

(P.S. Please check out my Thai Food Dictionary for more information)

Thai Yellow Curry -Gaeng Garee- แกง​กะ​หรี่

Today, I’d like to present you a recipe for Thai Yellow Curry which is called ‘Gaeng Garee’ (แกง​กะ​หรี่) in Thai. It is a common and very popular Thai curry. Outside Thailand, this curry is often referred to as the Thai-Muslim dish ‘Gaeng Garee’. It is interesting to note that in Thai ‘Gaeng’ means ‘curry’ and ‘Garee’ is the term for ‘Indian curry’. Hence, it is a ‘curry-curry’ because it is influenced by the Indian style curry and thus also contains a lot of Indian spices. The special feature of this curry is that it’s richer and creamier than other Thai curries because it is prepared not only with coconut milk but with coconut cream too.

Thai Yellow Curry ‘Gaeng Garee’ (photo taken by myself)

This curry is prepared with yellow curry paste and is thus different from Indian curry which is made with curry powder. ‘Gaeng garee’ paste usually contains spices like cumin, coriander (cilantro), turmeric, garlic, fenugreek, salt, sugar, bay leaf, lemongrass, pepper, ginger, mace and cinnamon. Cumin and turmeric are the characteristic ingredients of this curry in general because they mainly contribute to the yellow colour of the curry

This dish is often prepared with chicken, duck or shrimps. In addition, some vegetables like potatoes, onions and tomatoes complete this dish. Of course, you may also prepare the curry paste yourself if you like. Here is a recipe for preparing yellow curry paste. However, for the recipe we will take a store-bought paste.

Here is what you need to prepare ‘Gaeng Garee’ with chicken for 2 portions:

3TSP yellow curry paste 2-3 bone-in chicken thighs but you may also take chicken filet if you prefer 1 1/2 cup of coconut milk 150g waxy potatoes, cut into chunks 1/2 medium onion, cut into strips 1/2 cup of water 1 TSP fish sauce 1/2 TSP palm sugar (or to taste) 1 TSP tamarind juice 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes Jasmine rice for serving

Thai yellow curry (photo taken by myself)

Preparation:

The first step is to reduce ¾ cup of coconut milk over medium heat until it gets thick and the coconut oil separates from the rest. Add the curry paste and let it cook for 2-3 minutes on a medium low heat, until the oil starts to separate from the paste. In the next step, add the chicken and coat it in the curry paste. Then add the remaining coconut milk and about 1/2 cup of water. Stir until everything is mixed together well. Add 1/2 TSP of fish sauce and 1/2 TSP palm sugar. Then let everything simmer for half an hour.

In the following step, add potatoes, onions, and more water if necessary to keep the potatoes mostly submerged. Let everything simmer for another 15-20 minutes or until the chicken and the potatoes are fully cooked. While the curry cooks, pierce the cherry tomatoes with the tip of a knife to make half-inch incisions.

Finally, when the curry is done, season your dish with the remaining fish sauce, sugar and tamarind juice. In a last step, you put in the pierced cherry tomatoes, turn the heat off and let the residual heat of the curry gently cook the tomatoes for a few minutes before serving. Serve your dish with jasmine rice and you’re done!

The following video by PailinsKitchen will demonstrate you how to prepare Thai yellow curry with chicken

Hope you’ll give this dish a try! Have a nice Sunday

Yours, Sirinya

(P.S. Please check out my Thai Food Dictionary for more information)

Jam Wunsen – Thai Glass Noodle Salad ยําวุ้น​เส​้น

Recently, I’ve prepared Jam Wunsen which is a Thai glass noodle salad. Glass noodles are also known as cellophane noodles because they are transparent and made from starch, most often from mung bean starch. In Thai language, glass noodles are called wun sen. Hence, Jam Wunsen (ยําวุ้น​เส้น ) is a spicy and refreshing Thai style salad commonly mixed with shrimp and minced pork or grounded chicken. This glass noodle salad is most often garnished with some nuts (either Cashew nuts or peanuts) and chili peppers.

Jam Wunsen Jam Wunsen, Thai glass noodle salad (photo taken by myself)

Here’s how to prepare Thai glass noodle salad! There are in fact different options how to prepare this salad. I present you one and comment on possible options. It’s quite easy and simple to make.

Ingredients for 2 portions:

60g glass noodles 140g grounded chicken, minced pork (optionally you may also take chicken filet if you don’t have grounded chicken) 5-6 shrimps 1/3 cup sliced onions 1/3 cup sliced tomatoes 1/2 cup sliced celery 3-4 chopped Thai chili peppers 3 1/2 TSP fish sauce 4 1/2 TSP fresh lime juice 1 1/2 TSP sugar 1/3 cup Cashew nuts or peanuts (fried/roasted) 1/2 TSP fresh garlic (chopped) 2 TSP Thai pickled garlic (optional) 2 TSP dried shrimps (optional)

Preparation:

Take a pot and heat some vegetable oil on a medium heat. Then add in some dried shrimps and fry them until they are golden- brown. This step is optional, if you don’t have or like dried shrimps you may leave them out. At this point you may also fry your Cashew nuts or peanuts if they are still raw.

Then take another pan and add your grounded chicken or minced pork and add about one TSP of water. Cook this on a medium heat until it’s done (approx. 5 minutes). Set this aside and prepare your glass noodles by soaking them in some hot water for a few minutes until they are ready to use.

Now prepare the salad dressing: Take a large bowl and mix the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar together. Add also some pickled garlic juice if you like and put in the chopped chili peppers and the fresh garlic. Mix this together well and then set the dressing aside.

Take another pot and heat water in it until it’s boiling, then add in the shrimps. Until the shrimps are cooked, it takes about a minute. Cook your glass noodles shortly in hot water for about 30 seconds.

Then put the noodles into the dressing and mix it together. Then add in the grounded chicken (or pork) and shrimps and also all the vegetables that you have (i.e. the pickled garlic, tomatoes, celery, onions). Mix everything together well. Hence, you’re almost done. Put some roasted peanuts or Cashew nuts on top of the salad and also the fried dried shrimps if you like! Thus, your salad looks wonderful and yummy

The following video by Rin Silpachai will demonstrate you how to prepare Jam Wunsen! Hope you’ll give this dish a try!

Yours, Sirinya

(P.S. Please check out my Thai Food Dictionary for more information)

Thai Pad Prik King: Red Curry & Long Beans Stir-fry

Today I have a recipe for you on how to make stir-fried red curry with long-beans. In Thai this dish is called Thai Pad Prik King (ผัด​พริก​ขิง). It’s also sometimes written as ‘Phat Phrik Khing’. The special feature of this Thai curry is that it is drier than other Thai curries because it contains little or no liquid coconut milk. You can add to this dish any kind of protein source, for example shrimps, chicken, pork or beef but you may also go for a vegetarian alternative and add tofu. However, it is also possible to leave the protein source off completely and only add the green long-beans.

Thai Pad Prik King Thai red curry with long-beans and pork, Thai Pad Prik King

Recently, my Dad prepared Thai red curry at home. We had two variants, one with pork and the other without meat but with some dried pork rind added. This enhances the nice flavour of this dish and makes your red curry even more aromatic. However, I can understand that this may not be everyone’s taste and liking. Red curry with long green beans, vegetarian version (photo: Sirinya Pakditawan)

Let’s continue with the recipe for the red curry dish! Here are the ingredients that you’ll need for the preparation:

Ingredients for 2 portions:

200g shrimps (or chicken, beef, pork, tofu) 2-3TSP (approx. 40g) Thai red curry paste 60 ml coconut milk (optional) 170- 200g Chinese long beans (or green beans) 50g peppers (or to taste) 2-3 kaffir lime leaves a pint of fish sauce (approx. 28g) 1 TSP granulated sugar or palm sugar (or to taste) 2TSP vegetable oil

Preparation:

Pre-heat your vegetable oil on a medium heat. Then add in the curry paste when the oil gets hot. Mix the red curry paste with the vegetable oil and let it simmer until the curry paste is fragrant. Then add in the coconut milk (optional) and stir really well. Add in the shrimps or the meat or protein source that you prefer. Then add in the long beans that should be cut into 3-4 inch pieces before the shrimps change colour. Add in the sugar and fish sauce and keep on stir-frying. Finally add in the cut into strips peppers and kaffir lime leaves and stir-fry for another few seconds. Well, and you’re done!

You may want to decorate your red Thai curry with some additional strips of kaffir lime leaves so that your dish becomes even more fragrant and yummy.

The following video by Rin Silpachai will demonstrate you how to prepare Thai Pad Prik King with shrimps Hope you’ll give this dish a try!

Yours, Sirinya

(all photos in this post are my own, for more information about Thai dishes, check out my Dictionary)

Tom Yum Gung ต้มยํากุ​้ง

Tom Yum Gung (Thai: ต้มยํากุ้ง​) is a delicious clear, sour and spicy Thai soup with shrimps and mushrooms. In fact, literally translated ‘Tom yum’ (ต​้มยํา) means ‘salad soup’. This might seem strange at first sight but in fact the soup has the exact same seasoning ingredients as the salad. Thus, ‘Tom yum’ is derived from two Thai words, namely “tom” and “yam”. “Tom” (ต้ม​) refers to the boiling process, while “yam” (ยํา) refers to a kind of Thai spicy and sour salad.

Since Tom Yam Gung is very popular in Thailand, it may also be called the Thai ‘national soup’. In fact, there are many different and slight variations of Tom Yam Kung. The recipe here is based on my conclusion of the diversity of recipes for this soup.

Tom Yum Gung Soup Recipe Tom Yum Gung (photo credit: Jens Timmermann)

Ingredients:

approx. 10-15 fresh shrimps, or optional deep-frozen shrimps 3-4 oyster mushrooms or champignon mushrooms 1/2 galangal which is also known as Siamese ginger 2 red onions or shallots 2 stalks of lemon grass 1-2 salad onions juice from 1-2 lemons kaffir lime leaves coriander/cilantro & its roots 2-3 fresh chillies (as you prefer) 1 litre vegetable or chicken stock 1-2 TSP chili paste (Thai: นํ้าพริก​เผา​ “nam prik pau”) 2-3 TSP fish sauce 3-4 TSP soy sauce optional small tomatoes optional coconut milk

Preparation:

Heat 1 litre of the vegetable or chicken stock. Prepare the lemon grass by cutting off the dry top and bottom, and remove the dry layer. Smash your stalk of lemon grass with the back of your knife because this releases the flavour. Then cut the lemon grass into 1-2 inch pieces. Wash and cut the roots (2-3 pieces) of the coriander and chop them. Cut the galangal into thin slices (2-3mm). Put these ingredients into the stock and add the fresh shrimps and 5-6 kaffir lime leaves. Let it cook. Then add approx. 1-2 TSP of the chili paste but be careful because sometimes chili pastes can be very sweet. Wash the fresh chilies and remove the green top. Press on the chilies with your knife and put them into the stock. Let it cook for about 5 minutes. Then add your mushrooms and tomatoes if you like. Finally season your soup with some fish sauce, lime juice and soy sauce. Add the salad onions and let everything simmer for a moment. You may want to decorate your soup with coriander and you’re ready to serve!

Here’s how to prepare this soup visually, very comprehensively explained by Pailins Kitchen. I also have a recipe for preparing the soup with beef. Please check this outhere .

Enjoy your meal! Yours, Sirinya

(P.S. if you’re looking for a German version on how to prepare Tom Yum Gung, click here please, for general information about Thai dishes, check out my Dictionary)

Massaman Curry แก​งม​ัสม​ั่น

Massaman Curry (also written ‘Matsaman Curry’) is a dish from southern Thailand. Translated literally “Gaeng Massaman” (แกง มัสมั่น​) means Muslim curry. In fact, the majority of Thai Muslims live in South Thailand and hence the name of this curry originates from this fact. The special feature of this curry is that the paste contains cinnamon, cardamom and star anise. Hence, at home when my parents make the Massaman dish we always call it the ‘Christmas Curry’ because of these Christmassy ingredients You may also use a few cinnamon sticks and star anise to decorate your Matsaman curry dish so that it looks particularly beautiful and yummy!

Massaman Curry Dish

Homemade Massaman Curry (photo taken by myself)

Well, the main difference between Indian and Thai curries is that the latter is not made with grounded spices but with curry pastes. However, you can buy such curry pastes in every Asian supermarket if you live in a Western country. However, you may also make Massaman curry paste yourself if you prefer. Here is a very comprehensive video by Rin Silpachai on how to make this paste. Thus, ‘gaeng’ (แกง​), ‘Thai curry’, refers to dishes in Thai cuisine that are made with various types of curry paste (เครื่อง​แกง​).​ The term ‘gaeng’ can also refer to the pastes themselves. A Thai curry dish is usually made from curry paste, coconut milk or water, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, herbs and aromatic leaves.

You will need the followingingredients for about 2-3 portions:

300g chicken, beef or lamb 200g potatoes 4 small onions approx. 200ml coconut milk 60g roasted peanuts, i.e. about 1 cup of peanuts 2-3 TSP Massaman curry paste, ‘ready to use’ or homemade 2-3 TSP vegetable oil 3 TSP tamarind paste or juice (optional) 1TSP fish sauce 1TSP palm sugar 3-4 Bay leaves (optional)

Preparation:

In a first step, wash and cut the chicken filets (beef or lamb) to bite-size. Cut the potatoes and the onions to bite- size too. Take a large pan and heat the vegetable oil on a middle heath. Then put in the curry paste, mix it with the vegetable oil and let it simmer until the paste begins to develop aroma. Put in half of the coconut milk and mix everything together well. The texture should be creamy. Then put in the chicken filets and let them cook for about 10 minutes. Afterwards, put in the rest of the coconut milk, the potatoes, onions and peanuts. Let it cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are done. Finally, season your curry with palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind paste (or juice).

This curry is traditionally eaten with jasmine rice. And you’re ready to serve!

Hope you very much enjoy this southern Thai dish! If you’re looking for a German version on how to prepare Massaman curry, please check out my partner bloghere . For more general information, go to my Thai Food Dictionary

Yours, Sirinya

Thai Green Papaya Salad – Som Tam ส้ม​ตํา

“Som Tam” (Thai: ส้ม​ตํา) is a very popular spicy Thai salad that is made from green papayas. Originally, Som Tum came from Laos but today this papaya salad is very popular in Isaan and everywhere else in Thailand. As a matter of fact, green papaya salad can be considered the Thai national dish! The basic ingedients for this salad are always the same. However, depending on the region, this salad might be seasoned differently. This papaya salad is most commonly eaten with sticky rice and different crudités (e.g. cucumber, lettuce). “Som Tum” literally means “sour pounded,” which makes sense considering the unripe papaya is kind of sour and to make it, you pound up all the ingredients with a pestle and mortar.

Som Tam Recipe Som Tam green papaya salad

Ingredients:

1 green papaya 1 large carrot 4 cherry tomatoes 2-4 TSP peanuts 1 pint of salt 1-3 fresh red chillies (Prik Kee Noo Daeng) | พริก ขี้หนู​แดง 2 lemons 1-3 garlic gloves 2 TSP palm sugar 1-2 TSP fish sauce optional green long beans optional dried shrimps optional tamarind paste optional, you may want to use an appropriate clay mortar for making this salad. If you live in a Western country, you can get such a clay mortar in your local Asian supermarket. However, you can also use a large plastic bowl.

Som Tam ingredients (photo credit: Jens Timmermann)

Preparation:

Put the garlic cloves, the chillies and 1TSP peanuts in your clay mortar or bowl and mix them thoroughly together. Then add the fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. If you want to add tamarind paste you may do this too. Continue mixing and mashing the ingredients together with a pestle until the palm sugar is completely resolved. Wash the green beans and cut them in 2 inch pieces. Put them in the mortar to your other ingredients and continue mash everything together. Peel the papaya and the carrot and cut them with a zick-zack peeler into fine stripes. Wash and cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters.

Put everything together with the rest of the peanuts and continue to mash everything together lightly. Finally, season your papaya salad with some more lime juice, salt and palm sugar. And you’re ready to serve! Som Tam (photo credit: Jens Timmermann)

The following video by Rin Silpachai demonstrates comprehensively how to make this salad. Check this out, if you feel unsure about the preparation

There is also a German version of this post onSom Tam available, check out my German partner website Hamburger-Thai- Kreis

Yours, Sirinya

(P.S. Please check out my Thai Food Dictionary for more information)