Green Papaya Salad with Salted Egg (Som Tam Khai Khem)
ส้มตำไข่เค็ม som tam khai khemSay it: som TAM kai KEM
Som tam khai khem is Thailand's pounded green papaya salad, sharp with lime, salty with fish sauce and fragrant with garlic and bird's eye chilies, but here it is crowned with salted duck egg. The creamy, deeply savoury orange yolk softens the fiery dressing and turns a light salad into something rich enough to share at the table. It is eaten across Thailand as a snack, a side for grilled chicken and sticky rice, or a lunch on its own, and it comes together in minutes in a clay mortar.
Green Papaya Salad with Salted Egg (Som Tam Khai Khem)
ส้มตำไข่เค็ม, som tam khai khem
Pronounced som TAM kai KEM
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Level
- Easy
Allergens: contains egg, fish, shellfish, peanuts. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
Salad
Dressing
Method
Shred the papaya into long, thin strands, then soak them in ice-cold water for 10 minutes to crisp. Drain thoroughly, squeeze gently and pat dry.
Pound the garlic and chilies in a large clay mortar with a pestle until you have a coarse, fragrant paste with no large chunks left.
Add the palm sugar, lime juice and fish sauce and pound and stir together until the sugar has dissolved and the dressing smells sharp and sweet.
Drop in the long beans and tomatoes and pound lightly, just until the beans are bruised and the tomatoes split and release their juice, about 30 seconds.
Add the papaya in two or three handfuls, pounding and turning it with a spoon between additions, until every strand is glossy and slightly softened, 1–2 minutes. Do not pound it to a pulp.
Add the dried shrimp and crushed peanuts and toss everything together with the spoon so they are evenly mixed through.
Taste and adjust. it should be sour first, then salty, sweet and hot. Add more lime juice, fish sauce or palm sugar as needed.
Quarter the salted eggs. Pile the salad onto a plate, tuck the egg wedges on top, scatter with extra peanuts and serve straight away.
Regional variant: Som tam pu (salted crab papaya salad)
Replace the salted egg with 2 small pickled rice-field crabs, crushing them in the mortar with the garlic and chilies before anything else is added so their salty juices season the dressing. Use fermented fish sauce (pla ra) in place of part of the fish sauce and leave out the dried shrimp. The result is funkier and saltier, so taste before adding extra fish sauce.
Cook's notes
- If you cannot find salted duck eggs, mash 3 hard-cooked egg yolks with a pinch of salt and use them in the same way, or use ready-cooked salted eggs from an Asian grocery.
- Mash half a salted egg yolk into the dressing before adding the papaya for a creamier, richer salad, keeping the rest for the top.
- No clay mortar? Use a heavy bowl and a wooden spoon, pressing and turning rather than pounding; the salad will be a little less juicy but still good.
Serve with
Sticky rice, grilled chicken (gai yang) or grilled pork skewers, and cold water or a light lager.
Make ahead and storage
The pounded dressing can be made a few hours ahead and kept covered in the fridge, but shred and toss the papaya only just before serving; leftovers soften quickly and are best eaten the same day.
