What's the difference between Lao and Thai papaya salad?

The Thai version of the papaya salad typically uses fewer ingredients and seasoning than Lao Papaya salads. Thai style tends to be milder and sweeter. Lao Papaya salad is more pungent, spicy, salty, and sour with less sugar than Thai Som Tum. The Lao version uses more fermented ingredients, which adds an extra depth of flavors, colors, and smell to the salad. Lao salads are called Tum Mak Hoong.

What does Lao papaya salad taste like?

Lao papaya salad or Tam Mak Hoong is full of incredibly delicious flavors that will leave you wanting more with each bite. Each mouthful builds on the last, especially the spiciness. Lao papaya salad blends salty, sweet, tangy, umami, and pungent in one delicious bite. And it is extremely addicting!

What is Lao style vs. the spicy Thai papaya salad?

Throughout Thailand, street stall vendors selling papaya salads usually offer many styles or variations of green salads. When asked for a Lao-style salad, that means Pla Ra (in Thai), Padaek (in Laos), fermented fish, shrimp, or crab paste are added to the salads for extra flavors. Lao-style salads swing more towards salty and tangy rather than sweet. Peanuts are not usually added to the Lao-style papaya salad either.

Are papaya salads healthy?

Yes. Papayas are full of fiber, vitamins, and many other health benefits. The salad is mostly raw vegetables pounded with fermented seasoning and some sugar. You can substitute sugar for agave, honey, monk fruit sugar, or other healthier sweetness of choice. It is an extremely healthy dish.

Can you eat papaya salad while pregnant?

It’s been a myth in Thai culture that it’s best not to eat papaya salad during pregnancy. I believe the salad uses fermented Pa Deak or Pla Ra, a fermented fish deemed unsafe for the fetus. Also, the raw nature of vegetables made with spicy chili and strong flavors causes heartburn and stomach sensitivities in pregnant women.

How long does green papaya salad last?

Green papaya salad is best eaten in one meal. It loses its freshness and texture if stored in the fridge for the next meal—a salad with many names.

Do you need Thai Mortar and Pestle to make Som Tum?

Thai Papaya salad is typically made in a large clay mortar and wooden pestle for the light pounding of raw vegetables. If you don’t have a set, you can use a few things around the house to make this Thai dish.

How to make green papaya salad without a mortar and pestle

Method 1. Use a sturdy medium-sized bowl, and with cooking gloves, use your hands and fingers to massage ingredients together. Method two. Use a sturdy gallon zip lock bag lined with a dish towel and meat tenderizer to pound the bag with the ingredients lightly.

Lao Green Papaya Salad Recipe (Tam Mak Hoong)

Name: Lao green papaya salad recipe (Tam Mak Hoong)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: thai
Ingredients: 2 cups shredded green papaya salad.; 2 large cloves of garlic; 1-5 fresh Thai chilis, as needed; 2/3 cup cherry tomatoes, halved; 1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces; 1/3 cup shredded carrots; 1 tablespoon Pla Ra, fermented fish sauce is not the same as fish sauce; 1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste; 1/2 teaspoon crab paste; Pickled whole crab. 1 tablespoon of liquid and 1/4 cup of the crab leg pieces.; 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice. Add one slice of squeezed lime rind to release oil and a slightly bitter taste.; 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate; 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce.; 2-3 tablespoon sugar. Add more towards the end of the salad is too spicy.

Description

Lao Green papaya salad recipe (Tam Mak Hoong) is a flavorful, mouthwatering salad made from shredded green papaya, tomatoes, beans, and carrots. This crunchy salad is lightly pounded with garlic, Thai chilies, tomatoes, and green beans, then seasoned with pungent fermented sauces making this recipe one of the raved-about salads in Southeast Asia.

Ingredients

Scale

2 cups shredded green papaya salad.
2 large cloves of garlic
1-5 fresh Thai chilis, as needed
2/3 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup shredded carrots
1 tablespoon Pla Ra, fermented fish sauce is not the same as fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste
1/2 teaspoon crab paste
Pickled whole crab. 1 tablespoon of liquid and 1/4 cup of the crab leg pieces.
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice. Add one slice of squeezed lime rind to release oil and a slightly bitter taste.
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce.
2-3 tablespoon sugar. Add more towards the end of the salad is too spicy.

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Instructions

Prepare the green papaya. Wash, dry with paper towels, and carefully peel the skin off the papaya with a sharp knife. Peeling only the green part, you will see raw papaya's beautiful white flesh. Wash the sap off with water and towel dry.
Shred the papaya. Use the knife method mentioned above to shred the papaya into thick log slices 4-6 inches long with a Kiwi peeler or grater. Keep shredding until you have about two solid cups. Make an ice bath for the shredded papaya to keep them fresh and crispy.
Roughly pound garlic and Thai chilies in a large mortar and pestle with a wooden pestle. Don’t make a paste.
Add the green beans and roughly pound them with the wooden pestle, just enough to bruise them. This is where you can add one or two Thai eggplants.
Add the sliced tomatoes, pound just enough to bruise, and extract the juice.
Add shrimp paste, crab paste, fermented fish sauce (Pa Daek), pickled crab, fish sauce, and lime juice with rind, tamarind, and sugar. Leave the rind of the lime, but don’t eat it when served. Either remove it before serving or set it on the side of a plate as the locals would. Half mixing, half light pouring of everything together. Use a large spoon to help swirl the sauce around in a circular motion with one hand while using the wooden pestle on the other.
Add the shredded papaya and carrot and the rest of the lime juice. Lightly pound everything all together one last time. 1 Minute more. Taste your salad and adjust here with more fish sauce, lime juice, or sugar.
Prepare a platter with vegetables and garnishing options on the side. Pour the salad from the mortar into the serving platter, and that's it! Enjoy the taste of heaven on earth! And again tomorrow. (;

Notes

Soaking the shredded papaya, green beans, and carrots in an ice bath will help crisp the vegetables, adding a fresh crispy texture to the salad.
Add a small amount at a time of the seasoning ingredients to ensure the flavors aren’t too intense. You can adjust more toward the end.
If you find the measurements too strong, you can add up to 1/4 cup of water to the sauce to help dilute some of the saltiness.
Have sticky rice, jasmine rice, and vermicelli noodles ready to serve with the salad.
Lettuce, napa cabbage, or sliced cabbage to eat the salads as a wrap.
Use a large spoon alongside the wooden pestle to help stir, flip, and circulate the salad in the mortar for an even pouring and blending of the sauce into the ingredients.

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Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 10
Category: salad
Method: salad
Cuisine: thai

Keywords: lao papaya salad, lao green papaya salad recipe, tam Mak hoong, lao tum mak hoong, isaan papaya salad