Som Tam

Ingredients

• 1 green papaya, shredded (or raw mango + carrot)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 green chillies
• 2 tbsp peanuts
• 2 tbsp palm sugar or jaggery
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp fish or soy sauce
• 10 green beans, cut short
• 6 cherry tomatoes

Method

1. Pound the garlic and chillies in a mortar first, into a rough paste.
2. Add peanuts and beans, bruise them lightly — bruised, not crushed.
3. Sugar, lime and fish sauce, pounded until the sugar dissolves.
4. Tomatoes, squashed just enough to release juice.
5. Shredded papaya in last. Now bruise and turn with a spoon rather than pounding, so it stays crunchy.
6. Taste — it must be sour first, then salty, sweet and hot. Eat within the hour.