Finding its origin in the Northeast of Thailand, Thai Green Papaya Salad is found widely spread across Southeast Asia.
Each region has its own take on this delicious salad but the essentials typically stay the same to reflect the five main tastes of Thai cuisine: sour lime, hot chilly, saltiness, savoury fish sauce and sweetness usually from palm sugar.
This popular Asian street food can traditionally contain shrimp or crab, but to regionalise it to Scotland I have worked in a sixth taste of smoky rich flavouring from smoked trout. The moist texture of the fish melts in your mouth in each bite of sweet and savoury goodness.
I find this chilled summer salad refreshing on hot summer days. It is easy to prepare but the complex flavours will have your guests thinking you have spent hours in the kitchen!
Serve as a salad appetizer or entrée and for an even heartier meal pair with either noodles or sticky rice.
Serves 4
Ingredients
100g of RR. Spink & Sons cold smoked trout
Juice of 1 and one-half lime
3 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 clove of garlic
4g of palm sugar
2 red chilies
1 small papaya
80g of green beans
50g of peanuts, crushed
7g of fresh coriander
Method
1 To make dressing, blend together lime juice, fish sauce, garlic and palm sugar until pureed.
2 Top and tail green beans, tenderize with mallet, then cut into 1cm pieces.
3 Peel papaya, cut in half and scoop seeds out, then slice into into long thin strips using grater or mandolin.
4 Cut chilies in half, remove seeds, then slice finely.
5 Roughly chop coriander leaves.
6 Tear slices of trout into bite sized pieces.
7 In a bowl place papaya, green beans, coriander, chilies, and trout. Add dressing and toss together. Plate and garnish with peanuts and remaining coriander.
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