I love this recipe. If you just read the ingredients it doesn’t sound right- green papaya, garlic, hot peppers…. But Thai people know how to combine these flavours to perfection. The key to Thai food is the perfect mix of these 5 flavours: sweet, pungent, sour, bitter and salty.

This recipe is a perfect example, as well as one of the most characteristic Thai recipes. The key  is to find a green papaya. Normally we eat it very ripe, or orange,  because otherwise they are bitter. But this bitterness is precisely what is called for in this recipe.

That said, if you can’t find a green papaya, try using one that is at least mostly ripe, or a little orange at the ends. This recipe is super easy and you will be surprised by the contrasts of flavours in this dish.

Print

Papaya Salad

• Total Time: 20 min
• Yield: 2
• Category: Easy
• Method: Salad
• Cuisine: Thailand

Print

Pin

---

Ingredients

• 1/2 papaya (85 gr) Green Papaya cut into strips
• 3 bird’s eye peppers or hot green pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoon sweetener (panela, coconut sugar,…)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium carrot (25 gr)  cut into strips
• 1/2 cup (25 grams) of green beans in pieces of about 3cm ( Thai green beans better!)
• 2 tomatoes cut into quarters
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon roasted cashew nuts for garnish

---

Instructions

1. Using a pestle smash the peppers, garlic, sugar, and salt to create a rough paste
2. Grate the papaya and carrot
3. Cut the tomato and beans into wedges (Note- if the beans are not Thai beans they would need to be boiled for roughly 5 min or until crunchy)
4. In a bowl mix everything
5. Serves and decorates with cashews

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

 

Original recipe from Saiphin Moore.

 Book: Rosa´s Thai Cafe ” The vegetarian cookbook”