Lao green papaya salad
A classic side for Laos and Thai food, this easy salad is a delicious mix of sweet and spicy.
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Total Time10 minutes mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Laos, Thai
Servings: 2 -4
Calories: 116kcal
Author: Caroline's Cooking
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- 10 ½ oz papaya 300g, approx, unripe/green ideally, or unripe mango
- 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 clove garlic roughly chopped
- 1 red chili roughly chopped (or more/less to taste, see notes)
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- 1 lime juice ie from 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
Peel and deseed the papaya and cut into matchstick pieces (either with a mandolin or roughly by hand).
Ideally with a pestle and mortar, crush together the shrimp paste, sugar, garlic and chili until the garlic and chili are largely a paste. Halve the cherry tomatoes and crush them slightly with the garlic-chili paste so that they are breaking up slightly but not falling apart.
Add the lime juice and fish sauce, pour over the papaya and mix through. Check the taste and add a little more lime juice or fish sauce, to taste.
If you can find padaek, then it's worth adding around 1tsp to the sauce for a traditional deeper, umami flavor.
The chili used s traditionally a red Thai chili which is relatively spicy. If you are less into spice, you can reduce the heat a bit using eg serrano instead.
Calories: 116kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 3g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 345mg | Potassium: 491mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 1960IU | Vitamin C: 143.5mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 1.2mg