Laotian Green Pawpaw Salad Food

GREEN PAWPAW (PAPAYA) SALAD WITH SEAFOOD

Green Pawpaw (Papaya) Salad With Seafood image

This recipe comes from a Thai Cooking course I did. It's fabulous! The dressing is hot, but not 'blow the top off your head' hot. Don't be afraid of the green pawpaw - it doesn't actually taste of much, but adds a great texture and takes up the flavour of the dressing. Use a perfectly green pawpaw - as ripe pawpaw flesh will tend to disintegrate in the dressing. The sauce can also be used to serve with spring rolls or coconut prawns.

Provided by Kookaburra

Categories Papaya

Time 51m

Yield 4-6 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 16

Ingredients

250 g green prawns, peeled and deveined
250 g squid, tubes split, and scraped inside
1 small green pawpaw, peeled, deseeded and grated (you need 1 cup of grated pawpaw, I grate mine in the food processor)
6 shallots, finely sliced (use golden or red shallots)
1 tablespoon lemongrass, crushed and white part finely chopped
1 tablespoon kaffir lime leaf, fresh, centre veins removed, rolled, then very finely sliced
1/4 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped (cilantro)
1/4 cup mint, leaves only, stems removed and roughly chopped
1/4 cup salad dressing (see recipe for Hot and Sour Dressing below)
2 tablespoons peanuts, roasted in a dry pan then crushed
2 tablespoons crispy shallots (buy these in a jar from an Asian food store)
3 small red chilies, deseeded (use 4 if you want it hotter)
8 garlic cloves, chopped finely
8 tablespoons lime juice, fresh
4 teaspoons palm sugar (or to taste)
3 -4 tablespoons fish sauce (to taste, you want a balance of hot, sour, sweet and salty so adjust ingredients as required)

Steps:

First prepare all the ingredients as described above - keep any ends and trimmings of garlic, shallots, coriander root, lemon grass, mint and coriander stalks, and odd bits of lemon grass and a couple of spare kaffir lime leaves aside to flavour the water you're going to cook the seafood in.
Next, make the dressing as it has to sit for at least 15 minutes for the flavours to merge.
To make dressing, mix together all ingredients and taste to ensure there is a good balance of hot, sour, sweet and salty - adjust ingredients as necessary.
Now prepare to cook the seafood.
Using a very sharp knife, score the inside of the squid tubes diagonally, then score in the opposite direction (to form a diamond pattern).
Cut the squid into rough triangle shapes - about 4 per tube.
Prepare a medium bowl of ice cold water, with ice cubes in it, and sit it by the stove.
Fill a large pot with water and add ends and trimmings as described above and a couple of tablespoons of salt.
Bring water to a rolling boil then add the seafood in small batches, cooking prawns for about a minute, and squid for about 30 seconds. (The seafood can be a bit hard to find in the water, so just add a little at a time, and you'll have to 'fish' for it.)
Remove seafood and immediately plunge into iced water. This cooking technique will make the squid so tender you won't believe it!
When seafood is completely cold, prepare salad.
In a large bowl toss together pawpaw, shallots, coriander, mint leaves, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, seafood and 1/4 cup of the hot and sour dressing (serve any remaining dressing on the side).
To present salad, transfer to a plate, bring most of the seafood to the top and arrange decoratively, then sprinkle with crushed peanuts and crispy shallots.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 216, Fat 5.5, SaturatedFat 1.1, Cholesterol 233.7, Sodium 1570.1, Carbohydrate 20.4, Fiber 1.5, Sugar 4.6, Protein 23

GREEN PAPAYA SALAD

Green Papaya Salad image

In Isan (and the rest of Thailand), green papaya salad is called som tum, with "som" meaning "sour" and "tum" referring to the pounding sound of the large pestle used to crush ingredients. It is eaten by itself as a snack, or with marinated grilled beef and chicken.

Provided by Julia Moskin

Categories quick, salads and dressings, appetizer

Time 20m

Yield 4 to 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dry-roasted salted peanuts, more for garnish
2 fresh bird chilies or serrano chilies, sliced
1/2 teaspoon raw sugar or white sugar
1 tablespoon dried shrimp (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 to 2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla), to taste
2 plum tomatoes, 1 large round tomato, or 8 grape tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 pound long beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths (optional)
1 small to medium green (unripe) papaya (see Note)
Lettuce for serving (optional)

Steps:

In a blender or mortar, blend or pound garlic, salt, peanuts, chilies, sugar and shrimp (if using) into a paste. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in lime juice and fish sauce. Use a spoon (or the mortar) to lightly crush tomatoes and beans (if using), then add to bowl and mix lightly.
Peel and coarsely grate or shred papaya, discarding seeds and inner membrane. There should be 4 to 6 cups.
Add papaya to bowl and lightly but thoroughly toss together. Taste for seasoning. Mound in a bowl (if desired, line bowl with lettuce leaves beforehand). Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 36, UnsaturatedFat 0 grams, Carbohydrate 9 grams, Fat 0 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 1 gram, SaturatedFat 0 grams, Sodium 360 milligrams, Sugar 6 grams