Tam Mak Houng – Som tam – bok l’hong – papaya salad

Ingredients :

  • 400 g of green papaya
  • 1 or 2 small lemons
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 2 fresh chilies
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped Paderk (fermented fish brine)
  • 1 tablespoon of Nam pa (nuoc mam)
  • salt
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of glutamate

Preparation :

Wash and peel the green papaya. Grate the papaya into fine strips. Discard the seeds.
Mix the garlic and fresh chillies.
Then add the sliced ​​green papaya, lemon juice, the Paderk, Nam pa, a pinch of salt, glutamate and a little sugar to soften the acidity.
Cut the tomatoes in whole slices and add to mixture.
Serve the salad with lettuce leaves or stems of water spinach.

Tips : The Tam mak hung is traditionally eaten with the Kao Niao (sticky rice) and pork rind cracklings dried. Can be added to the composition of papaya salad according to your taste, the grated carrots, crushed peanuts, a small shrimps dried, the Kapi (shrimp paste), the Nampou (crab paste) …

Anecdotes : The tam mak hung, or green papaya salad, is a culinary institution Laotian. The green papaya is pounded with garlic, lemon and chilli.