INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 12:16:55 -0700
From: "Colonel I. F. K. Philpott" <colonel@korat1.vu-korat.ac.th>
This is a version of the som tam (papaya salad) recipe that is commonly
eaten as a snack, as breakfast, or with pad thai as lunch.
Note this is *not* the same as the recipe posted earlier from sources
intended for those without armour plated palettes.
This is a typical isan (north east) dish. It can be made with or without
the plara (pickled mud fish). Potential cook are warned: this ingredient
smells foul! but it does taste nice.
som tam is a basic "salad" style dish, eaten as a snack.
The pickled mud fish is sold in bottled form in asian markets: take some of
the fish, add a little fish sauce, and place it in a muslin bag and squeeze
as much fluid as possible from the fish. (you can use the fish themselves,
but they are raw, albeit pickled, and their is some risk from parasites. If
you use the fish paste itself I suggest you first microowave it to ensure
it is safe to eat! If you are squeemish then sterilize the liquor also. If
really squeemish, the ingredient is optional ...)
method: sprinkle the julienned papaya with salt and let stand for half an
hour or so, then squeeze and discard any fluid.
Dissolve two teaspoons of MSG (optional, but recomended), in two
tablespoons of lime juice. Add half of this to the papaya, and half to the
sliced prik ki nu, and allow to marinade for about an hour.
Mic these ingredients, and bruise them in a mortar and pestle.
Julienne the red jalapenas, and mix all the ingredients.
Serve with a bowl of sticky rice, or a plate of pad thai.
This is food for chili masochists in extremis: you can increase the
proportion of chilis until this is a bowl of red fire, and it will still be
authentic.
If you wish you can decorate the salad with chopped roast peanuts, sliced
green onions, and mint leaves. You could also include [raw] bean sprouts
and sliced cucumber as side dishes. Thais generally eat lettuce or some
cabbage related vegetable as a side dish also. (The normal way to eat it is
to rip a piece of lettuce leaf, and take a mouthful of som tam in the leaf
and eat it without knife, fork or spoon...) If you want to be a bit more
western use a standard salad, or even an exotic such as a Waldorf Salad as
a side dish... Colonel Ian F. Khuntilanont-Philpott Systems Engineering,
Vongchavalitkul University, Korat 30000, Thailand
CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V2 #273
From the Chile-Heads recipe list.  Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe
Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.

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