A good friend of ours moved to Thailand many years ago to act as the foreign recruiting agent for a Muay Thai school. It’s always great to hear from her and she often has some pretty good, authentic Thai meal ideas for us. One that we make pretty often is this Tam Som salad. We really do like this salad. It is quick and easy to make and has a lovely fresh taste thanks to the papaya, basil and coriander. This salad is super versatile too. Substitute the peanuts for cashews, make it as hot or mild as you like, or make it a side by leaving out the tofu.
Tam Som Salad
Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: thai, vegan, vegetarian, gluten freeDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes30
minutes30
minutesIngredients
- For the Salad
1 small green papaya, shredded
1/2 a cup of peanuts
2 cups of bean sprouts (or other sprouts if you prefer)
2 medium tomatoes, diced
5 green onions, sliced (white parts only)
1/2 a cup of fresh basil, chopped
1/2 a cup fresh coriander, chopped
1 small red Thai chili, cored, seeded and finely diced
1 cup of green beans or snap peas, blanched and quartered
1 red pepper, cut into fine strips
1 block of firm tofu
- For the Dressing
4 Tbsp. of soy sauce or tamari
2 Tbsp. of vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. of lime juice
2 tsp of maple syrup
Pinch of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
Directions
- For the Sauce
- In a small bowl, thoroughly mix the soy sauce, oil, lime juice, maple syrup and pepper and set aside.
- For the Salad
- Heat a frying pan over low heat.
- Cut the tofu into bite sized cubes and spread them in frying pan in an even layer.
- Dry fry the tofu for about 5 minutes on 4 sides. it will dry out and become slightly brown. This method gives the tofu a nice texture and allows it to really soak up the sauce.
- While the tofu is cooking, peel and remove the seeds from the papaya, then shred the papaya with a cheese grater into a large serving bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl.
- Add the dressing to the salad and toss well.
- Serve topped with a few peanuts and basil if you’re feeling fancy.