Green Papaya Salad: A Savory Salad To Indulge In Authentic Taste of Thai

Thai food has captured millions of hearts over the years and continues to win over more people each day. With growing demand for Thai food, it has established such an enormous worldwide fan base, that Thai cuisine is now recognized as one of the most popular cuisines in the world. Now the question that crosses our minds is what has made Thai food steal all the spotlight? Thai cooking places a hefty emphasis on making light dishes but with strong aromatic components that gives it a spicy yet a subtle flavorful edge. Thai cuisine is all about juggling disparate elements that ultimately delivers a harmonious finish. This Green papaya salad is whipped up in a classic style of tossing it up in spices with several other ingredients which is ultimately made from shredded unripe papayas. Green papaya salad better known as 'Tam Som’ is a spicy salad that is prepared and found in innumerable regional variations. One of the Thai variations was once recorded in the ‘World’s 50 most delicious foods’.   

Tracing the brief history of this classic Thai salad:

Green papaya salad is an ancient Thai dish that initially adapted itself from an ethnic Lao dish which too used local fruits, vegetables and spices. Papaya became the most prime yet essential ingredient of this dish because back in the years, during the days when Thailand was one of the entry points Europeans traded with, this fruit was introduced to the Thai people which then quickly spread throughout the whole of Southern Asia. This traditional Thai salad saw its initial rise after Thailand developed its biggest inter-regional migration route through roads and railways that helped in popularizing this dish and creating a wide demand among its people and slowly outside of Thailand.   

How is this green papaya salad made?

Green papaya salad follows a traditional yet typical method of juggling five main tastes of the local cuisine namely sour lime, hot chilly, salt, savoury sauces and sweetness that's achieved through palm sugar. All these ingredients are mixed together in a bowl with slices of unripe papayas. The salad instead of being sweet, tastes savoury but is of course quite filling and delightful. Here’s the complete recipe if you want to try making one at home.