Produce
Green papaya
Also called unripe papaya
Unripe papaya used as a vegetable. The flesh is pale, dense and crisp, and shreds into the long threads that make som tam. Green mango is a cousin in the same pestle.
Origin
Papaya is Central American. Unripe fruit as a salad vegetable became essential in mainland Southeast Asia, especially Laos and Thailand, where som tam is daily food.
Flavour
Mild, green, faintly peppery, more crunch than fruit. Ripe papaya is sweet and musky and will not do.
How to use it
Peel, quarter, scoop the white seeds, then shred with a julienne peeler or a Thai kiow. Pound the shreds lightly in a mortar with the dressing so they bruise and drink the sauce โ do not reduce them to mash. Salt and lime in the mortar start the softening; too much pounding makes soup. If you cannot find green papaya, green mango or even firm cabbage can stand in for crunch, and the dish will change. Taste for the sour-sweet-salty-hot balance after pounding, not before.
Storage
Whole and hard, on the counter, until you shred it.
Recipes using it
Checking your allergy settingsโฆ
