I love the flavours of Thai food — the insatiable heat, and the distinctive combination of sweet, salty and sour. It’s like a sensory running of the bulls! Those machismo-destroying little bird’s eye and prik kii nuu (mouse-dropping) chillies can reduce a grown man to tears, but the exhilaration gets your endorphins rising.
I think the use of unripe fruit is so interesting, and often wonder what prompted people to use fruit in this way. The crunchy freshness of the green papaya adds such a great textural dimension to this salad. And believe me, with six chillies in this recipe, you’ll need it! Use fewer chillies if you prefer less heat.
Som tam is often served with one of my favourite barbecued chicken dishes, Gai yang, along with sticky rice. The salad has quite a liquid consistency, but the juices are lovely soaked up by the rice and chicken.