Name: Tam Mak Hoong (Lao Papaya Salad)
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 3 servings
Cuisine: Laotian
Ingredients: 300 g green papaya (peeled and shredded into thin strips); 4 pcs long beans (cut into 4cm lengths); 2 pcs cherry tomatoes (halved); 3 cloves garlic; 6 pcs Thai chillies (fewer for a milder salad); 3 tbsp padaek (Lao fermented fish sauce) (the defining Lao ingredient — fish sauce is a poor substitute but workable); 1 tbsp fish sauce; 2 tbsp lime juice; 1 tbsp palm sugar; 40 g roasted peanuts (roughly crushed)

Method

Shred the papaya

Peel and shred the green papaya into thin matchstick strips and set aside.

Pound chilli and garlic

Pound the garlic and chillies together in a large mortar until broken down, then add the long beans and bruise lightly.

Season the base

Add the padaek, fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar to the mortar and pound briefly to combine and dissolve the sugar.

Padaek is chunkier and funkier than Thai fish sauce — strain out any bones if using a homemade batch.

Add papaya and tomatoes

Add the shredded papaya and cherry tomatoes, and pound and toss with a spoon in one hand and pestle in the other until everything is bruised and coated.

For a vegetarian version, replace the padaek and fish sauce with soy sauce and a squeeze of extra lime — the flavour will be lighter but still bright.

Let it rest briefly

Let the dressed salad sit for five minutes so the papaya softens slightly and takes on the padaek.

5 min

Serve

Tip onto a plate, scatter with crushed peanuts, and serve with sticky rice.

Tam Mak Hoong (Lao Papaya Salad)

Ingredients

Method

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