Som tam or som tum (Thai: ส้มตำ, pronounced [sôm tam]) also known as tam bak hung (Isan: ตำบักหุ่ง, pronounced [tam bàk hùŋ]) is a spicy salad, the standard form of which is made from shredded unripened papaya. Som tam is similar to the Laotian dish tam mak hung and the Cambodian dish bok l'hong. It is listed at number 46 on World's 50 most delicious foods complied by CNN Go in 2011.[1]
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The dish combines the four main tastes of Thai cuisine: sour lime, hot chili, salty fish sauce, and sweetness added by palm sugar. The ingredients are mixed and pounded in a mortar; the Thai name, ส้มตำ (som tam) means 'sour pounded'.
In Thailand, it is customary that a customer ask the preparer to make the dish suited to his or her tastes. To specifically refer to the dish as prepared traditionally in Laos or Isan, it is known as ส้มตำลาว or som tam lao or simply as tam lao.
Traditionally, a typical som tam will contain some primary ingredient, a vegetable or fruit chopped in small pieces, like:
To the basic ingredient some or most of the following secondary items are added and pounded in the mortar with the pestle:
Som tam is often served with sticky rice (Thai/Isan: ข้าวเหนียว [kʰâːw nǐow]; Lao: ເຂົ້າໜຽວ) and kai yang (Thai: ไก่ย่าง [kàj jâːŋ]; Isan: ไก่ย่าง Lao pronunciation: [kàj ɲâːŋ]; Lao: ປິງໄກ່ [piŋ ɡaj]). It is also sometimes served over rice noodles and raw vegetables to mitigate the spiciness of the dish, or simply as a snack by itself with crispy pork rinds.
Variations of the dish are found throughout Thailand, as well as in the West, where it is more commonly known by its Thai version and Thai name. A similar dish is also eaten in Cambodia, where it is known as bok l'hong.
The Central Thai version (som tam Thai) tends to be mild in comparison and much sweeter; it often contains crushed peanuts, and is less likely to have padaek or brined crab. These last are eaten raw, and the Thai government periodically issues health warnings about the risk of hepatitis.[3] Dried brine shrimp are used in this Central Thai version, commonly referred to as ส้มตำรามา or som tam rama. There are also versions made using unripe mangoes, apples, cucumbers, carrots, and other firm vegetables or unripe fruit. Most of these were invented by Thai students in the United States or United Kingdom, where unripe papaya are hard to find.
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