Tam mak hoong recipe

Green papaya pounded in a tall mortar with padaek, the chunky fermented fish sauce that makes the dressing dark and funky.

20 minuteseasy10 ingredients

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp padaek
• 400 g green papaya
• 4 clove garlic
• 5 bird eye chili
• 2 limes
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 15 g palm sugar
• 150 g cherry tomato
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp
• 80 g long bean

How to make Tam mak hoong

1. Peel 400 g of green papaya and shred it by tapping the flesh with a knife and slicing off the shreds, then keep it in cold water so it stays crisp.
2. In a tall clay or wooden mortar, pound 4 garlic cloves and 5 bird eye chilies to a rough paste with the wooden pestle.
3. Add 80 g of long beans cut into 4 cm lengths and 150 g of cherry tomatoes and bruise them just enough to release their juice.
4. Add 3 tablespoons of padaek, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, the juice of 2 limes, 15 g of palm sugar and 2 tablespoons of dried shrimp; padaek is the fermented fish sauce that makes the dish Lao rather than Thai, and bottled fish sauce does not reproduce it.
5. Tip in the drained papaya and pound gently while turning the mix with a spoon, a dozen strokes at a time, until the shreds soften and soak up the dressing: tam means to pound, and tossing it in a bowl gives another dish.
6. Taste; the juice should be dark, funky, sour and hot rather than sweet, and it carries no peanuts, which belong to the Thai som tam.
7. Serve immediately with sticky rice.

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