Part of what makes Thai food incredible is the balance of salt, sweet, sour and spicy. Nothing demonstrates the elegance of this flavour profile like the papaya salad. I’ve had several that have been too sweet, too syrupy or have not had enough texture. Follow the below recipe, but ultimately, let your senses guide you. If you want more chillis, go for it. If you feel like a few more tomatoes, by all means pop them in. It’s a classic, but it should be tailored to you.

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 medium to large unripe green papaya, yielding 1 ½ cups when julienned

2 cloves of garlic

3 Red Thai chillies (or more, to taste)

1 ½ tbsp palm sugar, finely chopped

2-3 long beans cut into 2 inches

3 tbsp roasted peanuts

1 tbsp small dried shrimp

2 tsp tamarind juice

1 ½ tbsp fish sauce

½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved 

Instructions 

Peel outer layer of papaya and julienne with a peeler until you get 1 ½ cups full. Add julienned strips into a bowl of iced water for 6 minutes until firm. Remove from water and dry off in a clean kitchen towel. 

In a mortar, pound garlic and chillies until smooth. Add palm sugar and pound into a wet paste. 

Add the long beans and lightly pound until beans are broken but still whole. 

Add dried shrimp, peanuts and pound until peanuts break. 

Add fish sauce, tamarind juice, lime juice and squeezed lime skin and pound lightly, stirring with a large spoon to incorporate. 

Add shredded papaya and tomatoes. Alternate between pounding gently and flipping to stir ingredients until tomatoes are slightly crushed. 

Plate and sprinkle with chopped peanuts. 

Serve alone or with sticky rice.