Dig out your spiralizers people – today we’re making Papaya Salad! I know, using a spiralizer isn’t authentic, it’s certainly not how you’ll see them making it at the night markets in Thailand! Personally if I tried cutting papaya using the traditional method then I’d probably loose a finger. An alternative method often suggested is using a grater and while this will work in a pinch, it often leaves you with papaya strands that are just too thin. A favourite of Thai cusine, this salad is spicy, sour and yet sweet, with the contrasting textures of soft and crunchy.
Wandering around the markets in Thailand you’ll see different stalls at different stages of making this Thai favourite. One person will be slicing the green papaya almost faster than the eye can see, someone else will have a large clay pestle and mortar, bashing the salad into submission. I don’t have the huge clay pestle and mortar that is traditional for making this but we can make do with a rolling pin and large (robust!) mixing bowl. It can be incredibly soothing to stand there bashing up your salad, brusing the fruit and vegetables to make them tender.
Nothing in this is cooked, instead we’ll be bashing the ingredients into submission so this can as quick as you want to make it. Trust me, it’ll be fun!
- Makes: Serves 4
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 75g Peanuts
- 300g Green Papaya (about ½ a medium fruit)*
- 225g Carrots, peeled
- 3 Garlic Cloves, peeled
- 3 Thai Chillies, stems removed (or to taste - these can be quite spicy!)
- 1½ Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 120g Fine Green Beans, cut into bite size chunks**
- 2 Tbsp Lime Juice
- 2 Tsp Tamarind (optional)***
- 2 tbsp Vegan Fish Sauce
- 4 Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- Handful of fresh mint (optional)
- Handful of Thai Basil (optional)
Recommended Tools:
- Spiralizer
- Rolling pin (assuming you don't have a traditional thai mortar and pestle)
- Large, robust mixing bowl, I really wouldn't recommend glass
- Small Food Processor
Directions
Let’s start out by toasting the peanuts. You can buy roasted peanuts in the shops but I prefer to do this myself as it allows you to toast to your preferred level, additionally many roasted peanuts have added flavourings and this can conflict with the salad. Put a dry frying pan on a medium heat and throw in your peanuts. Keep an eye on them and toss regularly to make sure they brown evenly, remove from the pan when they have nice deep golden brown spots all over and don’t let them burn.
While your nuts are roasting, peel your papaya, and remove the seeds by cutting it in half horizontally and gently scraping them out with a spoon. Using your spiralizer, cut both the papaya and carrot into long strands. Place the papaya into ice water to help it plump up and put to one side.
Traditionally, this next step in done in the mortar and pestle but I’ve never had the patience for it, feel free to do so if you’d like to try it! Put your garlic, chillies, and brown sugar into a small food processor and blend until a paste forms. add this paste to your mixing bowl.
Add your green beans to the bowl and begin to pound the paste and beans together using the end of your rolling pin, you want the beans to start to bruise and turn a bright green as they begin to absorb the paste. Now add your lime juice and the toasted peanuts and continue to pound everything together til the peanut start to break up. Add your fish sauce and tamarind and stir well. Now add your drained papaya, carrot, and tomato. Begin to pound your salad together but after ever pound, fold your salad so that each time you hit a different bit of papaya. When your papaya is evenly bruised with reduced volume, add your fresh herbs (if using) and toss well to ensure the dressing is evenly distributed.
Serve as a tasty side or as a delicious light lunch with rice to help with the heat!
Notes
*Green (unripe) papaya can be tricky to get a hold of in the UK. We got lucky when we visited an Indian grocers but if you can’t find any you can substitute courgettes or cored cucumbers though I’d suggest pounding a lot less with these additions.
If you don’t have a spiralizer then feel free to either use a grater in it’s place or, very thinly cut the papaya and carrot. Just try not make sure you don’t cut too thinly so there’s still some texture.
**Traditionally foot long green beans would be used but I’ve yet to find them, normal green beans make a perfectly good substitute but if you find some go ahead and use them!
***The tamarind is an optional additional but you choose to skip it I would recommend increasing your lime juice ever so slightly so you still get the tart, sour flavours that are so popular in this dish.
The fresh herbs add a great burst of flavour to this dish but there’s aren’t many that can stand up to the strength of the other ingredients. If you can’t get Thai Basil then I would just skip it – please don’t substitute with Italian basil as it’ll wilt far too quickly.
Allergy Notes; This is vegan and gluten free. If nuts are an allergen for you then skip the peanuts. You can use sunflower seeds instead to provide the texture contrast if you have them to hand.
