steffanmathias Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Does any one know of a good alternative to Green Papaya for Som Tam? It's quite hard to get here, and when i can find it it's just so expensive... Thanks x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aircut Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Does any one know of a good alternative to Green Papaya for Som Tam? It's quite hard to get here, and when i can find it it's just so expensive... Thanks x sour green apples, carrots are popular alternatives.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angiud Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Try with green mango. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j0hnga1t Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I like it with cucumbers. I just have to scrape out the seeds/center part so it's not so watery.....yummmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hadrian1 Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Does any one know of a good alternative to Green Papaya for Som Tam? It's quite hard to get here, and when i can find it it's just so expensive... Thanks x sour green apples, carrots are popular alternatives.... In restaurants in the UK.....carrots are used to make up the quantity of shredded material so that less expensive Papaya is used. I don't think though it would be an alternative. Below is an alternative version made without Papaya which was made by a tv chef here in the UK. I've never made it but I personally doubt it would be as good as one made with Papaya. I might be surprised though. ? white cabbage - cut into thin strips 3 carrots - cut into thin strips 1 red onion - cut into strips 3 cloves garlic - finely chopped 3 tbsp peanuts - crushed 12 small tomatoes - quartered 1 small red chilli - finely chopped 3 tsp Nam Pla or light Soy Sauce 2 tsp soft brown sugar Juice of 2 limes Handful of fresh coriander METHOD Mix the vegetables in a large bowl, cover in cling film and leave in the fridge until ready to serve the salad. Mix the lime juice, sugar and Nam Pla together in a small bowl and put in the fridge. Before serving: Add the finely chopped coriander to the vegetables in the large bowl. With a rolling pin handle, mash the vegetables a little to release the natural juices. Pour the lime juice mixture over the vegetables and serve immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rennie45 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Does any one know of a good alternative to Green Papaya for Som Tam? It's quite hard to get here, and when i can find it it's just so expensive... Thanks x Parsnips might be a good bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
track61 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 My favorite is a combo of two of the above, cucumbers (scraped as noted) and green mango. I like the cucumber bit in papaya also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerman1 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 My wife in the UK uses cucumber as someone has already stated.It's good and tasty. I am not sure where the poster lives but in the UK papaya for som tam is also really expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue eyes Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 You could try the Chayote,in French,"christophene" with carrots.Will never be the same without papaya but it will be close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Try with green mango. This what they use in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Wifey always used (cheap) carrots when we were in Europe, now we're in Thailand she uses (expensive) carrots. We have dozens of papaya trees but she likes the carrot version, I can't win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabaijai Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 In fact there are many varieties of tam in Thailand, including papaya, cucumber, green beans, carrots, and more. Anything or fruit that can retain its crispness is a good candidate. Green beans work well. I like the cucumber variety a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harcourt Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 As stated, any crisp vege will substitute (and then, technically the name of the dish changes too, tam taeng etc). Personally, because we use green papaya as a meat tendersiser (put strips of green papaya on tough raw beef and it will start to disolve overnight!), I am always a little leery of having papaya som tum....imagine what the enzymes do to my gut! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue eyes Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 As stated, any crisp vege will substitute (and then, technically the name of the dish changes too, tam taeng etc).Personally, because we use green papaya as a meat tendersiser (put strips of green papaya on tough raw beef and it will start to disolve overnight!), I am always a little leery of having papaya som tum....imagine what the enzymes do to my gut! They are good for it.They help you digest your food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chung noi Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Does any one know of a good alternative to Green Papaya for Som Tam? It's quite hard to get here, and when i can find it it's just so expensive... Thanks x Ever hear of a rutabaga? Here is a link to a lao blog that shows a step by step. Rutabaga plok plok...lol http://laovoices.com/2007/10/17/tum-ruba-is-back/ I hope I have not broken a rule by posting it. It really is a good Sum Tum. We add dried shimp and peanuts to ours. However, hold the praaaa and pickled crabs in mine.......lol. Choke Man Choke Choke Dee *j* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doggsy Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 swedes - nice cheap alternative Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billp Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 On Koh Jum in February, the restaurant had run out of pappaya one day, so they made me som tam with carrots. Excellent! The flavour is mainly from the garlic, chile and other seasonings anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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