Friday, January 22, 2010

Thai Green Papaya Salad-SOM TAM

When I arrived in Bangkok, I expected to see and eat Pad Thai all the time. I wasn't disappointed, I had all the Pad Thai I can get my hands on but I developed a craving for Som Tam or Green Papaya Salad which I don't remember having in any Thai restaurant here in Manila. The ingredients are chili, sugar, garlic, lime, fish sauce, brined crabs, yardlong beans, tomatoes, peanuts, dried shrimps, shredded green papaya and carrots.





Som Tam in all its spicy glory

My first experience with it was mind-blowing and after the initial shock, I must say everywhere we went from then I had to taste their own version :)

4 comments:

Monkeyshines in the Kitchen said...

mmmmm! That salad looks so good! I can just imagine the sweet/salty/crunchy goodness of it. Will definitely try this soon!

Kris Ngoei said...

Yes, som tum is the No.1 local food here. Every Thai, either guy or gal must love it....

There come in many versions too, and there are some shops selling nothing else but som tum...

Apparently it is hard to find som tum in other countries, I guess not because it is hard to find the ingredients (afterall it is just the raw papayas right?), but the taste is just very awkward for foreigners ..... It is something that either you love you or hate it!

Sawadee from Bangkok,
Kris

chef_d said...

I liked it!! It was so good, after that experience, I looked for papaya salad everywhere we ate in bangkok. I loved eating there, the flavors were just so awesome. I will definitely go back :)

TaGa_Luto said...

Oh my..this blog brings me back to memory lane, my visit to Bangkok years ago! I remember, back then i was this young crazy single lady, who'd try anything and everything i see. This was one of my fave. I had this along w/ crispy fried fish you eat the bones too, hhmmm that was good too, i forgot how that fish was called.
Oh aside from the food that i enjoyed immensely is Pratunam Market shopped 'til we dropped! lol! I'm guessing you did too!