Som Tam - what's the obsession?

[RamenRaven]

We know that Thais like Som Tam. It's a national obsession and addiction.

 

But the obsession is taken to an extreme level that I cannot understand.

 

Someone please explain to me the extreme obsession over it.

 

Why is that they obsess over Som Tam as the main dish, and every other food item is meant to complement Som Tam, which is the star and main focus of the meal?

It's often the primary dish in what they consider to be a proper meal, and almost the only thing that they want to eat for the entire meal, with sticky rice and grilled pork on sticks seemingly as auxiliaries.

 

Koreans like Kimchi. But Kimchi is a small side dish that goes along with other main courses. Koreans don't have an extreme obsession over Kimchi as the only thing they want to eat.

Germans like Sauerkraut. But Sauerkraut is eaten in nice little portions that go along with meat and potatoes. But have you ever seen Germans with extreme Sauerkraut addictions gorging only on that, as if there's no tomorrow?

Americans like Pickles. But of course, you'd just put a few pickles to give your hamburger a nice little extra sour taste. But do you see Americans salivating over entire jars of pickles?

Burmese like Laphet (tea salad). But that's a nice little dish that goes alongside samosa and tea. But I've never seen extreme laphet obsession in Myanmar.

 

In almost all other cultures, sour, pickled, spicy fermented vegetables are nice little side dishes or condiments.

 

But none of these guys would eat almost ONLY Kimchi, Sauerkraut, or Pickles and get tiny little packets of sticky rice to complement their sour stinky veggies. It's almost always the opposite, where the spicy, sour, stinky veggies have to complement main dishes.

 

But that's not it.

 

Mention "Som Tam" to a Thai and they look like they're about to go crazy. They look like their eyes are about to pop out and that they want it NOW.

They will scream "Hiw!" whenever they see photos and videos of Som Tam, spot some by a roadside stall, or smell some being pounded nearby.

Som Tam obsession videos are all over YouTube and Facebook. Thais watch them all day long, and oh boy, their mouths really do water!

Forget about boring khao man gai or khao kha moo. Som Tam, Som Tam! Aroi aroi, saep saep, get it now, now!

 

You don't see Koreans salivating over Kimchi like crazy when you mention it to them. They will salivate like that over BBQ pork instead.

Neither do the Germans or Americans.

 

Oh and that's not it either.

 

And it's not the Som Tam that we eat at Thai restaurants in the West, which Thais say is "jeut" (flavorless) and "mai aroi" (not delicious).

 

The Som Tam that they like must be extremely sour, salty, and stinky in order to be authentic.

Som tam must be slathered in extremely large amounts of super salty and stinky fish sauce, along with as many chilis as they can possibly get their hands on. Sour, salty, and stinky are the three overwhelming flavors that must be in any proper Thai Som Tam.

Even if you can eat super spicy Tom Yum or Basil Chicken Rice, none of that can prepare for the extreme spiciness and sourness of a proper Thai Som Tam.

 

It's pungent, painful, overwhelming even to culturally adaptable foreigners who grew up eating spicy food and have tried to train themselves to eat Som Tam for years. Nasal mucus flows non-stop, and those extreme flavors sting their nerves everywhere causing intense buzzing sensations and their faces to turn red. Stomachs and intestines begin to immediately churn, and the Som Tam eater has to wash it down with large amounts of water or else they'd feel like they're about to explode due to all that nervous system overload from Som Tam-induced masochism.

 

 

I can eat Som Tam. I like Som Tam.

But, I tend to eat it when I want to use it as kind of a laxative medication to cure indisgestion and constipation blues due to too much steak or pizza.

I can eat it as a nice little side dish along with lots of other kinds of foods, but not as the main dish where it's basically a kind of sour fish sauce soup with over a dozen chilis mashed into all that brown sludge.

 

 

Som Tam is what they look forward to at the end of the day.

Som Tam is what makes them euphoric and happy again if they're having a bad day.

Som Tam stalls everywhere make their neighborhoods exciting and terrific.

Som Tam is the #1 thing that they want to eat now.

Som Tam is the meaning of life.

 

 

Seriously, what is up with Som Tam?

 

 

[KhunLA]

Disagree with that assessment, as me & wife really don't eat it that much.  Far from a must have for many that I know.  Tasty when made correctly, well, to my liking anyway.  It is versatile, hard not to like at least 1 version.

[richard_smith237]

While Som-Tam is popular... what you describe is perhaps the behaviour of a very specific demographic who’d sit around in circles on the floor, munching away, mouths open, cackling, joking... 

 

I certainly do not see it as a national obsession, but agree, its popular... 

I like it, my Wife likes it, most of my Thai and many of my Western friends like it.

 

I’ve never seen it eaten as a primary dish, but as one of many... or usually with Grilled Chicken, sticky rice and som-tam. 

 

I quite like it with an ice cold beer now and again... The strange thing is, I used to dislike it and have only started liking Som-Tam in the past few years. 

[RamenRaven]

I agree that it's not universal with 100% of all Thais, but a significant proportion of the population certainly has this type of obsession over Som Tam.

There are many forum members here with Thai wives who have this kind of Som Tam obsession.

 

Isan wives in Germany and Sweden have photos of Som Tam all over their Facebook profiles.

They make Som Tam mukbang videos and keep posting and tweeting about how they like Som Tam.

It seems like for at least half of their waking hours, Som Tam is in their minds.

 

I watched a documentary about Thai berry pickers in Scandinavia, and they were, uh, making Som Tam.

 

Westerners like to talk about delicious Thai curries, but for many Thais, it's all about Som Tam.

 

[internationalism]

that's the only dish which I do eat when out. Not spicy, no msg, salt, sugar. 

Easy to make, so not waiting time. Cheap. Healthy. No, I don't eat any rice, meat with it. 

[LaosLover]

I went to Myanmar 4 times and only found green tea salad once -at the airport.

 

If you find yourself in a rare Burmese restaurant in the west, it's always prominently featured. No way is it Som Tum-level popular, tho. You can make the fermented green tea in a ziplock bag.

 

In Ubon, I went to an all-som tum restaurant. Like all-pad thai restaurants, it was better than eating it on the street. If I could eat it 5 times a week, (maybe light on the fish sauce and skip the pickled crab), I would.

[LaosLover]

It's down to the fish sauce choice too. We bought $20 fish sauce (from Sardinia) and use only palm sugar at home. The diff is at least a letter grade uptick.

[Excel]

It used to be the British obsession with fish and chips. Just the same thing, different foods obviously.  Of course over the course of decades with the massive influx of foreigners, mainly Southern Asians, that has changed.   Here in Thailand, unlike their UK counterparts,  they have not so far allowed the permanent influx of thousands/millions of foreigners so I would suspect that if and until that policy changes Som Tam will remain one of the nations most popular foods.

[Kwasaki]

Rice with fish food or something like kow Kat krapal is the regular meal where I live from my observation and som tam is just a now again snack.. 

[Sparktrader]

Hate paw paw. Don't like much chilli.

[law ling]

An acquired taste for sure - I never go near it.

 

With it's raw vegetables, baby crab shells, etc, I'd just privately assumed that it must used as a purgative ... to ensure a firm stool the following day.

 

... you see, Thais are people too, and have the same concerns we do ... and just do things differently.

[RafPinto]

One somtum a day keeps the bugs, the Dr. and the Covid away.