Frugal Lee: Thai Papaya Salad

Papaya Salad is made with green papaya. Make sure that when you buy green papaya, for the purpose of making this dish, that the flesh inside is white. Most major grocery store chains do sell papayas but don't be fooled by their green colored skin papayas or the hardness of the fruits at those stores. Because the ones sold at major grocery store chains are already ripening. If you cut open a papaya and the flesh are already orange-yellow in colors, you don't want those! It can still be used but it will not taste as good. Green papayas do not have much flavors and it will take on flavors from the sauce it's soaked in. That is why when you use papayas that are already ripe or is ripening, the ripe flavors of the fruit will interfere with the sauce's flavors. So the best bet is go to an ethnic grocery store and get white fleshed green papayas.

There are many versions of this spicy Southeast Asian dish, depending on what country you go to. I mostly prefer either Thailand style-which is sweet or Laos style-which is extra spicy, sour, and pungent. Today I will show you how to make Thai style Papaya Salad.

First you'll need to prepare the young papaya by peeling it. Then washing it thoroughly, sometimes the young papayas have white sap that bleeds through the skin. Wipe dry with a paper towel. Then shred with a papaya shredder. You can find this at your local Asian Supermarket or online. They are cheap, about $3?

The ingredients:

1 Garlic clove
Thai Chili peppers--add to your spice level
2 TBS Palm sugar--1 TBS cane sugar as substitute
2 TBS Fish Sauce
2 TBS Lime juice
2 1/2 Cups shredded Papaya
3 TBS dried shrimps
2 TBS peanuts--roasted and crushed for garnishing

Also don't forget one ripe tomato (small). My tomatoes are starting to ripe, woohoo!

In a mortar crush the garlic and chili peppers. If you don't have a mortar and pestle you can use a food processor or hand chop them finely. The purpose for crushing them is to get the spicy oils and flavor out of the garlic and peppers.

Next add the fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice to the crushed peppers--mix them well.

Then into the mortar add the shredded papaya, tomato slices, and dried shrimps. Use the pestle to mix the ingredients into the papaya, this also bruises the papayas.

For those who don't have a mortar and pestle you can bruise the shredded young papaya by putting it into a bowl or cup and use a wooden spoon. The act of bruising the papaya will allow more sauce to grab hold onto each papaya strands. After you've bruised the papaya, mix in the sauce.