Green papaya salad with dried shrimp. Photo by Charles Haynes

Dish of the Week: Green papaya salad

With the unseasonably muggy weather, it’s best to look to the cuisines of countries that are subject to this type of weather year round. And one of the cuisines that immediately pops to mind is Thai. While the cuisine is more frequently associated with pad thai and rich coconut curries, there is a wide world of other lighter dishes that make it easier to combat the heat.

One of the most common dishes is green papaya salad (som tam), a dish that is also found in Vietnamese cuisine. Under-ripe green papaya is shredded, often alongside carrots and tomatoes, and quickly pickled in fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and sugar. Some top it off with small dried shrimp, chili peppers, and roasted peanuts. The salad is a perfect blend of umami, stringent acidity, delicate sweetness, and crispness that is cooling and doesn’t weigh heavily in your stomach. And if, like me, you’re not a fan of ripe papayas, which have a tendency to be cloyingly sweet, green papayas are an entirely different creature and worth a try.

The dish is simple enough to make home, and as this recipe suggests, the simple dressing could be applied to cabbage or other vegetables to make a refreshing and tasty summer salad. Top it off with some chopped lemongrass chicken or beef and it can be a great summertime dinner entree.

If looking for the dish while dining out, it can be found at most Thai or Vietnamese restaurants. Given how simple the recipe is, we’ve yet to note any real stand outs. But if you know of any, let us know in the comments.