Papaya salad

Papaya salad

(serves 4 as a side)

One of the most well-known and popular Thai salads, this is great for adding freshness to your meal. The base of the salad is a green (or very unripe) papaya which you can find in most Asian supermarkets. Alternatively, pick the least ripe papaya you can find – it needs to be very firm to the touch so it will hold up and retain some crunch in the salad. To balance the sweetness, just cut down on the sugar in the dressing. Alternatively, you can skip the papaya altogether and opt for beansprouts, or shredded cucumber, carrot, mooli or kohlrabi as the base of your salad. This recipe has a bit of a kick, so cut down on the chilli if you aren’t a fan of heat.

Ingredients:

2 Garlic Cloves, peeled

3-4 Red or Green Birdseye Chillies

100g Green Beans, chopped into 2 inch lengths then blanched for 30 seconds in boiling water before refreshing with cold water

175g green or unripe Papaya, peeled, de-seeded and cut into very thin slivers

1 Tomato, cut into wedges

2 tbsp. Veggie Fish Sauce (or light Soy Sauce)

1 tbsp. Palm Sugar or Demerara Sugar

2 tbsp. Lime Juice

A few leaves of Iceberg Lettuce to serve

Preparation:

Crush the garlic in a pestle and mortar, then add the chillies and crush down again. Add the green beans and crush them slightly to split them open.

Stir this mix through the shredded papaya, add the tomato and lightly pound again. Add the veggie fish sauce (or light Soy Sauce), sugar and lime juice, stirring the mix well.

Finally, place two or three washed iceberg lettuce leaves in the base of a bowl and fill with the salad mix ready to serve.