Som tam

Som tam (Thai/Isan ส้มตำ) is a spicy papaya salad originating in Laos and the Isan region of northeastern Thailand. Som (ส้ม) in Isan and Lao means "sour," and tam (ตำ) means "pounded." The transliteration is also sometimes written as som tum, som dtam or som dtum. Other names for the dish are papaya pok pok (from the sound produced when preparing the dish in a mortar), tam som or, in Lao and Isan, tam mak hung (mak hung is the Lao and Isan word for papaya).

The main ingredient is grated, unripe papaya, seasoned and pounded to a softened state in a mortar. Chili, garlic, lime and fish sauce are also usually added, while yardlong beans and tomato are optional. There are many variations of the dish, some made with carrot instead of papaya. The dish combines the four main tastes of Lao/Thai cuisine: sour lime, hot chilli, salty fish sauce, and sweetness added by palm sugar. The papaya itself is unripe and fairly neutral tasting. It is served at room temperature, traditionally with sticky rice. It is also sometimes served with pork rinds, raw water spinach, raw winged beans or raw cabbage. Very often it is paired with Gai yang (ไก่ย่าง in Thai), grilled chicken..
In Laos and Isan the dish is normally more spicy and sour, while the Central Thai version is milder and frequently includes peanuts. Som tam Lao usually features salted/fermented mud fish (ปลาร้า in thai) or salt-preserved crab (ปูเค็ม in thai), while som tam Thai is prepared with dried shrimp and bean and is often sweeter.
Som tam can also be prepared with other unripe fruits, notably mango, in which case it is known as tam ma-muang (ตำมะม่วง in thai), and cucumber, tam mak teng.

Green Papaya Salad, or Som Tam (sometimes written Som Tum), is a very common dish eaten

throughout Thailand. It originates in Laos/Issan, but now the whole country enjoys it. This

version does not add fermented crab or fermented fish paste (plaa-raa) which is common in

Issan. Feel free to add that if you want! This dish is easily made vegetarian by omitting the

dried shrimp, and substituting salt for the fish sauce.