Som Tam Salad

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 1 or 2 papaya
• 2 tsp of toasted peanuts
• 2 cloves of peeled garlic
• 1-2 fresh Thai birds eye chilli (or more to if you want more spicy)
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• juice of ½ lime
• 1½ tablespoons of fish sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons of Thai snake beans (or green beans) cut into 1 inch sticks

Directions:

1. Roughly crush a small handful of unsalted peanuts with mortar and pestle. Set aside. Wipe the mortar and pestle clean.
2. Peel the papaya ), shred it with a shredder to thin strips and soak them in cold water while you prepare the rest of the salad. This makes the papaya crunchier and gets rid of any excess starch from the swede.
3. Cut the end of the green beans and then cut into strips
4. Take the chillies and peeled garlic and add them in the mortar. Gentle start crushing the ingredients in the mortar to release the flavours, which will be the base of the dish.
5. Add the crushed peanuts and mix well with a spoon
6. Add the shredded papaya and continue crushing the ingredients with the pestle to combine the ingredients. Also using a spoon to make sure all the ingredients are covered evenly.
7. Finally add sugar, tomatoes, beans, lime juice and fish sauce and mix again.
8. Now it is ready to serve on a plate with crushed peanuts as garnish