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Thai

Som Tam (Thai Green Papaya Salad)

A Thai green papaya salad with a bright fish sauce-lime dressing, dried shrimp, tomatoes, long beans and roasted peanuts.

Published and reviewed by Kitchgrow on 7 September 2026Updated

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Som Tam (Thai Green Papaya Salad)

20 mintotal

Prep 20 min

Serves
2
Difficulty
Easy
Spice
Medium
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Ingredients

Quantities are for 2 servings.

Twenty minutes, most of it shredding the papaya. The pounding and tossing take two.

Method

  1. Pound the garlic and bird's eye chiles lightly in a mortar, or crush them with the side of a knife in a bowl.

  2. Add palm sugar, fish sauce and key lime juice, then stir until the sugar dissolves into a sharp-sweet dressing.

  3. Add yardlong beans and press them lightly so they bruise but do not turn mushy.

  4. Add raw papaya, cherry tomatoes and dried shrimp, then toss firmly so the dressing coats everything.

  5. Fold in roasted peanuts just before serving so they stay crunchy.

How to tell it's done

The papaya should be crisp and juicy, the beans lightly bruised, and the peanuts crunchy.

Getting it right

Tip

The salad should be bruised, not crushed; firm tossing helps the dressing cling while keeping the papaya crisp.

What to serve it with

Serve immediately as a salad, snack or side with jasmine rice and a Thai main dish.

Common mistakes

The salad is watery by the time it reaches the table.
Toss and serve immediately. Salted papaya and tomatoes start releasing liquid straight away, and som tam is eaten within minutes of being made for exactly this reason.
The dressing is all heat and no balance.
Dissolve the palm sugar fully before anything else goes in, and taste. Som tam should hit sour, salty, sweet and hot in that order; if you only taste chilli, it needs more lime and sugar, not less chilli.

Substitutions

  • Use Green Beans instead of Yardlong Beans if needed; cut them small so they bruise easily.
  • Use Lemon instead of Key Lime Juice only if lime-style juice is unavailable; the flavor will be less sharp.
  • Omit Dried Shrimp for a fish-sauce-only version, but the salad will lose some traditional seafood depth.
  • Reduce Bird's Eye Chiles for a milder salad.

Storing and reheating

Not a salad that keeps. Shredded papaya holds a day in the fridge in a sealed box, and the dressing keeps three days, but once they meet it is a matter of minutes.