WHAT IS SOM TUM?
When visiting Sense of Thai St. (Restaurant in One Loudoun, Ashburn, VA),Som Tum or Green Papaya Salad is one our special and favorite menu that everyone especially vegetarian fell in love with.
Som tum is a very popular dish for Thai people. It is a traditional dish from the Northeastern district of Thailand. Som tum has all the perfect taste that will trigger your taste bud and leave you to want more.
Shredded papaya is the main ingredient for Som Tum. The shredded papaya will be placed in the mortar with other ingredients such as garlic, small tomatoes, chili, dried chili, then get mixed with sugar or raw sugar with a tint of fish sauce and lime.
Why do we call it Som Tum?
In the North Eastern District of Thailand or Isaan, Som means Sour. While Tum refers to the action of pounding the ingredients into the mortar to mix all the ingredients together.
The Secret Recipe for Som Tum
You have to pound, pound, pound and pound the shredded papaya mixed with garlic, tomato and chili and top with the sourness from lime juice altogether. The secret to a delicious Som Tum is the weight of the pounding. If you pound it too gently, the ingredients may not marinated into the papaya. On the other hand, if you pound too hard, the shredded papaya will be too mushy and it won’t be delicious.
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There are different menu of Som Tum in Thailand.
Som Tum Crab has marinated crab or salted crab as an ingredient and the taste is a bit on the saltier side.
Som Tum Plara is a mix of having both the salted crab and the fermented anchovy sauce.
Som Tum Thai is more sweet and sour and has the dried shrimps and peanuts mixed in the dish instead of the salted crab and the fermented anchovy sauce.
If you want to try the authentic taste from Thailand of Som Tum, please visit us at Sense Of Thai St. (Restaurant in One Loudoun, Ashburn, VA ), There are 2 types of Som Tum for you to choose and try;
1. The Original Som Tum for Health Lover or Vegetarian. The Original Som Tum includes the green papaya, carrot, green bean, cherry tomato, peanut, spicy lime sauce. No type of meat is in the dish and it is the most popular menu at the Sense Of Thai St.
2. eSarn Style with Shrimp paste. It is the traditional type of Som Tum in the Northeastern district of Thailand. They like to add shrimp paste into the dish to create an umami taste.
Shrimp Paste?
Shrimp paste or shrimp sauce is a fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisines especially in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It is primarily made from finely crushed shrimp or krill mixed with salt, and then fermented for several weeks.
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