This spicy Thai coleslaw delivers all the bold, crunchy, salty-sour flavors of Som Tum (Thai green papaya salad) without the green papaya. Fresh green papaya is hard to find outside Asian grocery stores. In Tucson, it’s especially hit-or-miss. So this recipe uses packaged coleslaw mix instead. It has the same shredded, crunchy texture as green papaya. It also absorbs the fish sauce, lime, Thai chile, and garlic dressing just as well. Best of all, it comes together in about 10 minutes. I swear it’ll cure whatever ails you.
What Is Som Tum?
Som Tum is one of Thailand’s most beloved dishes. It originates in the northeastern Isan region and has since spread throughout the country and beyond. Cooks make it by pounding green papaya, tomatoes, garlic, chiles, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and peanuts together in a large mortar. The pounding bruises the ingredients rather than crushing them. As a result, they release their juices and form a dressing that coats every shred of papaya. The flavor hits all four notes at once: sour, salty, sweet, and spicy.
The trickiest ingredient to find is fresh green papaya — unripe papaya cut into long, thin, crunchy shreds. Outside of Thailand and Southeast Asian grocery stores, it’s simply hard to come by. That’s where bagged coleslaw mix comes in. It delivers the same crunch and neutral base flavor. In other words, it lets the dressing do all the work.
Ingredients
- One bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix. Either with or without carrots.
- 5 Grape Tomatoes or other cherry sized tomatoes halved
- 1 or 2 Thai Chilies - you can substitute with a Serrano chili if necessary
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 ⅓ T. Thai Fish Sauce -available at most supermarkets or From Thai Kitchen online.
- 3 Mexican/Key Limes or 1 regular sized lime
- 2 T. Peanuts chopped - optional if you are allergic.
- 1 T. Dried Shrimp or 1/4 c. salad shrimp (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, gently pound the garlic and tomatoes with a meat mallet or the back of a large spoon. Be careful not to hit the tomatoes too hard or they will splatter and hit you in the eye. The idea is to bruise the tomatoes so that you release their juices, not smash them to bits. Add all of the other ingredients and mix well.
