Som Tam

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded green (unripe) papaya
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2-3 Thai bird's eye chilies
• 100g long beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 tbsp roasted peanuts
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp (optional)
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1.5 tbsp fish sauce
• 1.5 tbsp palm sugar

Before you cook

• Shred the papaya on a mandoline or box grater into thin, crisp strips.
• Halve the cherry tomatoes.

Steps

1. Pound the garlic and chilies in a large mortar to a rough paste.
2. Add the palm sugar and pound until it dissolves into the paste.
3. Add the long beans and bruise them lightly with a few pounds of the pestle.
4. Add the dried shrimp and half the peanuts, and bruise briefly.
5. Add the shredded papaya to the mortar.
6. Pound and flip the mixture with a spoon, turning it as you go, rather than crushing straight down.
7. Add the tomatoes and bruise them just enough to release some juice.
8. Pour in the lime juice and fish sauce.
9. Toss and lightly pound to combine everything.
10. Taste and adjust with more lime, fish sauce or sugar until it is sharply sour, salty, sweet and hot.
11. Top with the remaining peanuts and serve immediately.