The taste of spicy, salty, sweet, sour, savory flavor and umami is in this one dish. Full of flavor!
Papaya salad, Tam mak hoong, ຕຳໝາກຫຸ່ງ
Tam mak hoong
Tam Mak Hoong (papaya salad) is a meal and a snack. It is the king of food in Laos, and everybody knows this food throughout Laos. When talking and thinking about Laos, this food will come to mind. It is a cultural and traditional dish in Laos. Every special occasion and festival, this dish will sell in every direction. Tam means pounded and Mak hoong is papaya. Tam mak hoong is made from unripe green papaya, or a slightly orange color mix with pale green, garlic, chili, sugar, shrimp paste, tomatoes, lime juice, and the last ingredient that never forget is Padaek (fermented fish sauce). To make this dish have another level of delicious is to eat with sticky rice or sticky in bamboo (khao lam), ping kai, and fresh vegetables.
When I first made this recipe, I have struggled to adjust the flavor of Tam mak hoong, but through practice and asking my parents, now I can make many plates with no problem. Tam mak hoong is easy to make. You just have to have a mortar, pestle, and Padaek. Padaek is the key to this dish. Choosing the right Padaek will give your tam mak hoong the ultimate flavor.
When making this recipe, you have to make it suit your preference and adjust the ingredients as you like to enjoy the dish. I recommend adding a lot of chilies, and you will get the hot and spicy, combined with the salty flavor and funky smell from Padaek.
Where to buy: anywhere, street side shop, restaurant and local market.
Shredded green papaya in two ways
There are two ways to shred papaya. The first one is the traditional and original way by using a knife, and the last one is to shred by using a julienne peeler. The original is quite challenging to control a knife and slice it into pieces. First, grab green papaya, peel off the green skin, and cut the tip of the papaya out. Second, after the skin is removed, wash it with water to remove the latex, and it will have a nice light green color. Third, hold the papaya on your non-dominant hand and knife, on the other hand, use the knife to chop as many as you can to make a series of lines and shave it down the lengthwise on papaya to create pieces. This approach creates an imperfect slice but gets the compelling texture, crunchier pieces, thinner pieces, and various sizes.
Besides, there is an easy approach that suits beginners and saves the amount of time to prepare Tam mak hoong. After the skin of the papaya is removed, use the julienne peeler to shave down the lengthwise on the papaya until you reach the inner cavity of the papaya. This method is easy, convenient, and faster than the traditional way. Also, you will get the perfect pieces and the identical size of the slice, but the texture is not much crunchy and is small pieces which I think taste different than the traditional way.
Ingredients
2 handful shredded green papaya (1 green papaya)
2 or more Chili
10g Shrimp paste
1 and 1/2 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
2 cloves of garlic
1 Lime
5 small tomatoes
25g Padaek (Fermented fish sauce)
Material
Mortar and pestle
Knife
peeler
Directions
Add garlic, chili, shrimp paste, salt and sugar into the mortar. Begin to pound by using the pestle until it broke down and well combined
2. Add lime juice and slice the tomatoes with a sharp knife to create imperfect small pieces (if you are not familiar with cutting the tomatoes without using a cut board, you can use the edge of the mortar or cut on the cut board). Next, add the Padaek, fermented fish sauce, gently pounding with the pestle on your non-dominant hand, and a large spoon on your dominant hand moves back and forth until it is well combined.
3. Lastly, add the shredded green papaya about two handfuls of it into the mortar and gently pound by coordinating the pestle and moving the spoon back and forth until it is well combined. Be Careful not to smack directly into the papaya, and over-pounding it will create a soggy papaya salad and have no crunchy left. Instead, pound the side and move the spoon to retain the crunchy texture.
4. Scoop to the plate and serve immediately with sticky rice, rice vermicelli and ping kai.
Enjoy!
Note: you can adjust the taste to suit your personal taste and increase or decrease the number of ingredients you like. Tam mak hoong has no specific flavor, and it is you who create the masterpiece to eat.
Storage
Keep the remaining shredded papaya in the container and store it in the fridge. After one week has passed, check the papaya if it still can be eaten, ask yourself if it has the same taste and texture as day one you shred, or if it is sour and tastes weird. Throw it into the trash can or put it on the soil to make natural compost if unworkable.
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