Green Papaya Salad Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the string beans and cook for 2 minutes, plunge into cold water. Drain well and cut each bean in half. Halve the tomatoes lengthwise and remove the seeds. Slice the halves into 1/8-inch strips. Roughly chop all but 2 tablespoons of peanuts. In a bowl toss papaya with the beans, tomatoes, chopped peanuts, fish sauce, lemon and lime juices, sugar, garlic, red pepper flakes and 3 tablespoons cilantro. Garnish with remaining peanuts and cilantro.

Steps:

• In a blender or mortar, blend or pound garlic, salt, peanuts, chilies, sugar and shrimp (if using) into a paste. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in lime juice and fish sauce. Use a spoon (or the mortar) to lightly crush tomatoes and beans (if using), then add to bowl and mix lightly.
• Peel and coarsely grate or shred papaya, discarding seeds and inner membrane. There should be 4 to 6 cups.
• Add papaya to bowl and lightly but thoroughly toss together. Taste for seasoning. Mound in a bowl (if desired, line bowl with lettuce leaves beforehand). Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Steps:

• In a blender combine the lime juice, fish sauce, shallot, chiles, sugar and garlic and blend until smooth. Set aside for 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
• In a medium non-reactive mixing or salad bowl, combine the papayas, carrots, mint leaves and chopped cilantro. Add the dressing and toss to combine thoroughly. Garnish with the cilantro leaves and chopped peanuts. Serve immediately.
• In a blender combine the lime juice, fish sauce, shallot, chiles, sugar and garlic and blend until smooth. Set aside for 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
• In a medium non-reactive mixing or salad bowl, combine the papayas, carrots, mint leaves and chopped cilantro. Add the dressing and toss to combine thoroughly. Garnish with the cilantro leaves and chopped peanuts. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Combine garlic, chiles, and green beans into a mortar and pound roughly. Add the papaya and pound again, to bruise the ingredients. Stir in fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar and pound again. Ad the tomato and pound to combine. Stir in the chopped peanuts and serve.
• If you don't have a mortar and pestle, you can make a version of this in your blender or food processor: coarsely chop the garlic, chile peppers, and green beans. Mix in the papaya, and pulse a few times. Mix in the tomato, fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar. Pulse to combine; salad should still have texture. Transfer to a serving dish and stir in the peanuts.

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine the fish sauce and coconut sugar and cook over low heat, stirring, until the sugar is melted and the sauce begins to thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and let the fish sauce syrup cool.
• Mortar and Pestle Method: Before you start throwing things in the mortar, arrange your mise en place in this order: garlic, chiles, green beans, carrot, green papaya, fish sauce syrup, lime juice, peanuts, and tomatoes. Hold the pestle in your dominant hand and a spoon in the other. Rather than pounding straight down, you're going to push the pestle down the sides of the mortar. Throw in the garlic and pound until it becomes a rough, pulpy mash. Add the chiles-pound them heavily if you prefer it spicy, or gently if you want it less spicy. Add the green beans, carrots, and green papaya, bruising lightly with the pestle and mixing with the spoon for about 10 seconds between each addition. Add the lime juice and fish sauce syrup, pound, and mix for another 10 seconds. Add the peanuts and tomatoes and repeat. Everything in the mortar other than the chiles and garlic should be bruised but intact. Don't overpound. If you want to mix a handful of other ingredients you can stir them in at this point, adjusting the seasoning as needed.
• Bowl Method: Combine the fish sauce syrup, lime juice, garlic, and chiles in a blender or food processor and blend until the garlic and chiles are totally pulverized. This is your som tum dressing and it can be refrigerated until you're ready to make the salad. In a mixing bowl, combine the papaya, carrots, and dressing. Using your hands, stir, mix, and squeeze the shredded salad to infuse the dressing and mimic the bruising of the mortar and pestle. Lightly crush the peanuts and toss in, along with the tomatoes. Transfer the salad to a plate and serve with sticky rice.

Steps:

• To make the dressing, in a small bowl, stir together the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, garlic, and chiles until the sugar dissolves. Set aside to develop the flavors.
• Peel the papaya with a vegetable peeler and then cut off the stem. Halve the papaya lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out and discard the seeds. Cut each half lengthwise into quarters, and then use a knife to remove the thin white layer lining the cavity. Using a Japanese Benriner slicer (page 22) or a food processor fitted with the largest shredder blade, shred the papaya pieces. Aim for thin strands about 1/16 inch thick, no more than 3/16 inch wide, and 2 1/2 to 3 inches long (about the size of the shredded mozzarella you put on a pizza.)
• Put the shredded papaya in a colander, add the sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, and use both hands to massage the sugar and salt vigorously into the papaya. After a few minutes, the papaya will be a little slimy and limp yet still firm. At that point, rinse it under lots of cold running water to remove the salt and sugar.
• Working in batches, wring out excess moisture from the papaya in a nonterry dish towel: position a mound of the papaya in the center, roll it up in the towel, and then twist the ends in opposite directions to force out the liquid. Do this 3 or 4 times. You want to extract enough water from the papaya yet not completely crush it. Transfer the papaya to a large bowl and fluff it up to release it from its cramped state.
• Fill a small saucepan half full with water, add the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the shrimp, remove from the heat, and let stand for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the shrimp have curled nicely and are pinkish orange. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool, leaving the water in the pan. When the shrimp are cool enough to handle, shred them with your fingers into 1/4-inch pieces. Let the shrimp pieces continue to cool to room temperature and then add them to the bowl containing the papaya.
• While the shrimp are cooling, trim any excess fat from the pork chop. Return the water in the pan to a rolling boil and drop in the pork. When the water starts bubbling at the edges of the pan, remove the pan from the heat and cover tightly. Let stand for 20 minutes. Th e pork should be firm yet still yield a bit to the touch. Remove the pork from the pan. Reserve the light stock for another use or discard. When the pork is cool enough to handle, cut it into matchsticks. Let the pork continue to cool to room temperature and then add it to the shrimp and papaya.
• Just before serving, add the Vietnamese coriander to the salad and toss to distribute evenly. Pour on the dressing and toss again. (If you don't want to bite into a piece of chile unexpectedly, strain the dressing over the salad.) Taste and adjust the flavors to your liking, balancing the sour, sweet, salty, and spicy. Transfer to a serving plate, leaving any unabsorbed dressing behind, and serve.
• notes
• You may ready the papaya, shrimp, and pork a day in advance. Keep them in separate covered containers in the refrigerator, and return them to room temperature before tossing the salad. The dressing may be prepared several hours in advance.
• When I am including this salad in a meal that contains a pork-based dish, I leave out the shredded pork and add more shrimp (use about 3/4 pound total). If papaya isn't available or if you would like a slightly more assertive flavor, use daikon instead. Select young daikons (which have a milder taste) no more than 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
• To make another Vietnamese favorite, substitute sweet-and-spicy Asian beef jerky for the shrimp and pork. Purchase the thin, dark red sheets of jerky, packed in plastic wrap or in boxes, at a Chinese or Vietnamese market. Using scissors, cut about 3 ounces of the jerky into short strips that match the papaya strips; you will have about 3/4 cup. Combine the papaya, jerky, and 1/4 cup shredded fresh Thai basil leaves. Toss the mixture with the same dressing as for the pork and shrimp version, but use a little less, as you will have a slightly smaller amount of salad.

Steps:

• In a large metal or wooden bowl (not glass), stir together dried shrimp, fish sauce, sugar, garlic, lime and chiles. Using a wooden muddler or pestle (or a wooden spoon), lightly pound the ingredients to bruise and release their flavors.
• Mix shredded papaya and tomatoes into fish sauce mixture, tossing until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then top with chopped peanuts.

Steps:

• Bring brown sugar, vinegar, and 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan, whisking to dissolve sugar; let cool. Whisk in soy sauce, chili paste, and sesame oil. Set aside.
• Cook shallots and vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until shallots are golden brown and crisp, 10-12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and season with salt. Let cool.
• Toss papaya and dressing in a large bowl. Let sit, tossing occasionally, 15 minutes. Add cilantro and basil; toss to combine. Top with fried shallots.

Steps:

• Wash the shrimp with salted cold water.
• Drain and set aside.
• Boil water in a medium sauce pan.
• When the water begins to boil put the piece of pork in the sauce pan and simmer over medium heat for at least 30 minutes until cooked through.
• Drain and set aside.
• When it's cool, julienne cut into long thin 2-inch strips.
• In another sauce pan, boil water.
• When the water is boiling, put the shrimp in and cook for 5 minutes.
• Drain the shrimp, split in half and set aside.
• Soak the shredded green papaya in a large bowl of cold water with 1 teaspoon of salt.
• Let it sit for 10 minutes; then rinse and drain it well.
• Use a cheesecloth to squeeze out the water from the shredded papaya.
• Add pork, shrimp (save a few shrimp to decorate the top of salad), fish sauce dip, and toss.
• To make fish sauce dip simply combine the ingreidents listed and mix well.
• To serve: Put the salad on a plate and arrange the cooked shrimp on top, sprinkle the top with coriander, and basil or mint, and chopped peanuts.
• Guests can use shrimp crackers to scoop up the salad to eat.
• A second method of serving: use finely shredded beef jerky instead of pork and shrimp.
• The rest of the preparations are the same.