How to make Colm O'Gorman's fresh Thai green papaya salad with pork

Colm O'Gorman's Som Tum salad with pork

One of my favourite food memories is eating a Thai salad in an open-air market in Bangkok more than 25 years ago.

We had just arrived in the city after a long flight and were starving. 

We headed out and chanced upon a wonderful little restaurant not far from our hotel. 

I already loved Thai food, but had never visited the country by that stage, so I was very eager indeed to get my first taste of fully authentic Thai cuisine.

I ordered Som Tum, a green papaya salad, and it did not disappoint.

It was incredibly fresh and delicious, with phenomenal complexity and layers of flavour, and it was blistering spicy.

I can still remember sitting there with tears streaming down my face as I tucked into that first meal in Thailand.

It was incredibly spicy but so delicious that I could not stop eating it.

‘Som’ means sour and Tum’ loosely translates as pounded which accurately describes both the flavour profile and preparation of this beautiful salad.

I have added stir-fried pork to my recipe to make it more of a main meal, but you can leave that out of you wish to have a lighter meal, or you could use prawns or tofu if you prefer.

I have also turned down the heat in my version, so tears are unlikely! Adjust the spice level to your own taste by adding more or less chilli as required.

You will find green papaya in most Asian supermarkets, and all the other ingredients are widely available.

Traditionally, Som Tum recipes included dried shrimp, if you can get hold of some, swap out one tablespoon of the fish sauce for a tablespoon of dried shrimp and add it to the chopped garlic and chilli when you are pounding those together as per the method below.

Colm O'Gorman's Som Tum salad with pork

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

"‘Som’ means sour and Tum’ loosely translates as pounded which arcuately describes both the flavour profile and preparation of this beautiful salad."

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 150g raw peanuts

• 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil

• 200g pork mince

• 1 star anise

• 1 green papaya, around 500g

• 100g fine green beans

• 150g cherry tomatoes

• 3-4 spring onions

• 4 cloves garlic

• 2 red or green chillies

• 50g coconut or light brown sugar

• 2 limes

• 2 tbsp fish sauce

• 1 handful fresh coriander

• Small handful fresh mint leaves

• To serve

• Lime wedges

• Chopped fresh coriander and mint

• Thinly sliced red chilli

Method

1. Pop the peanuts on a baking tray and roast them in an oven preheated to 180 Celsius for fifteen minutes until they are lightly golden brown. Transfer the nuts to a shallow bowl and allow them to cool for ten minutes. When they are cooled enough to handle, stir them around in the bowl using your hand; the skins will come away from the kernels as you stir. When most of the skins have come away, go outside and simply blow the skins out of the bowl. Lightly chop or crush the peanut and set aside for now.

2. Heat a non-stick pan over a high heat and add two tablespoons of toasted sesame oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, reduce the heat to medium. Add the minced pork and the star anise. Stir fry for four to five minutes until the pork is cooked through and begins to caramelise. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

3. Peel the green papaya. Use a spoon to remove any seeds from the centre. Shred the papaya using a spiraliser or a mandolin. You can do this using a sharp knife, but it will be a bit fiddlier. If you prefer, use the coarsest side of a grater to shred the papaya.

4. Trim the green beans and cut them into 3cm sized pieces. Lay them in a single layer on a chopping board and bash them gently with a rolling pin to lightly spilt and bruise the beans. Go gently, you just want to soften and open them up little as they will be served raw in the salad.

5. Trim and chop the spring onions on the diagonal. Wash and cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters or halves if they are very small. Wash and roughly chop the mint leaves and the coriander.

6. Next, prepare the dressing for your salad. Peel and roughly chop the garlic. Trim the stalks from the chillies and roughly chop those as well. If you want a milder dressing, remove the seeds and pith from the chillies before you chop them. Zest one of the limes and juice both.

7. Put the chopped garlic and chilli into a mortar and pestle and pound them until they are broken down. If you do not have a mortar and pestle, pulse the garlic and chilli in a food processor to break them down into a smooth paste. Add the sugar and pound into a smooth paste. Add the fish sauce, lime juice and zest and the final tablespoon of toasted sesame oil. Stir to combine and taste. Add more lime juice, sugar or fish sauce if required.

8. Warm the pork though a little. You do not want it piping hot, just stir it over medium heat for a few minutes to warm it through. Pop the prepared papaya, green beans, spring onions, tomatoes, chopped herbs into a large bowl. Add the pork and two thirds of the chopped peanuts.

9. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss it thoroughly.

10. Serve the salad on plates or in shallow bowls and garnish each portion with the remainder of the chopped peanuts, some more chopped herbs, thinly sliced red chilli and a few lime wedges.