Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad)

Method

1. 1

   Pound the garlic and chilies in the mortar to a rough paste.

   💡 Start with fewer chilies than pride suggests — you can always pound in more.

2. 2

   Add the palm sugar, fish sauce and the juice of both limes and muddle until the sugar dissolves; toss in the squeezed lime halves for their oils.

3. 3

   Add the green beans and dried shrimp and bruise them with a few firm strokes.

4. 4

   Add the papaya and tomatoes and work with a light pound-and-toss motion — the pestle bruises while a spoon lifts from below.

   💡 You're bruising the papaya so it drinks the dressing, not crushing it to slaw.

5. 5

   Taste and correct: it should hit sour and hot up front with sweetness trailing.

6. 6

   Pile onto a plate, top with peanuts and serve immediately, ideally with sticky rice.