Green Papaya Salad

I first came across this dish in at a Vietnamese restaurant in Calgary. It was briefly available in one restaurant in Durham that sadly closed down.  Every time my wife and I go to Atlanta, we go to Com which has a fantastic version of this.  I'll buy extra to take home for breakfast.  This is my primary Atlanta Aikido seminar food.

Green papaya is not actually a different papaya, it is a papaya that is not ripe yet.  The flesh is firm, almost crunchy, and a faint greenish white.  Many stores in Durham don't sell them.  I have heard nasty rumors that some stores won't put them out until they've turned orange and much softer.  There is one large Asian market that has helped me out on several occasions.

I once had a version of this in Saskatoon with sliced raw cabbage, and I think the green papaya is similar to jicama.  The Com version isn't pure papaya but also has green apple, shredded carrots, and rice noodles.  It's probably the same as trying to firmly define a salad in any culture - there are variations.  You can skip the papaya altogether (and I've even done it once with red papaya but the outcome isn't the same.)

If you can get a green papaya:

I take the skin off with a potato peeler.  The inside is full of white seeds and some threads which I don't know if they are edible; I just throw them out with the peels.

An ice cream scoop will take out the seeds and clean the inside out a bit.  I bought a tool to help with cutting this up.  A hand mandolin?

So I end up with a bunch of long slivers, which I usually see in restaurants.  If you can do a good julienne, good for you.  I used the shredder on my food processor before I got this, and I think the pieces need to be small.

This is about five cups of shredded papaya, so I add one peeled green apple and three small carrots shredded.  This is optional, and if I am eating alone I tend to just do the papaya.

Now the herbs.

Apparently what is sold as Thai Basil isn't the actual herb of choice in Asia for this dish.  It is still better to use than basil for Italian food.  It's also a more heat resistant, faster growing perennial that Japanese beetles do not eat (I use no pesticides, and this plant seems to have no predators in my garden).  I also think it is a prettier looking plant with white flowers, purple stalks and smaller leaves.  There is a licorice aftertaste that I love.

(Notice my regular basil looking yellow, sad, and dwarfed immediately to the right of the Thai Basil plant.)

About one cup of Thai Basil leaves for a whole papaya, chopped.

Mix this with about 1/3 to 1/2c of chopped mint leaves (the variety doesn't make a difference for me with the mint).

Then as my wife doesn't like peanuts, I use 1/2c of toasted and ground pistachios.  Other nuts are probably fine, but peanut is still my favorite.  Throw the peanuts and chopped herbs in, mix them around and put this aside as you make the dressing.  This can last covered in the fridge for a few days, so this is easy to make in advance and then add the dressing when you are ready to eat.

The dressing is mostly citrus juice. 

3tbsp of lemon

1tbsp of lime

(The person who gave me this recipe did four tbsp of lemon.  I have done four tbsp of lime and I love the mixture of the two.)

1 tbsp of fish sauce (smelly, but great)

2tbsp of sugar (you can do less, and you can substitute Stevia but use maybe only a 1/2tbsp.

A dash of ground pepper

1tsp chili garlic sauce (a cheat I have started doing, but I was originally told to use two garlic cloves and two Thai chilies).  My wife can't stand the heat, some people need more.  You can always add more if you're one of them.

Mix the lemon/lime, fish sauce, pepper(s), and garlic together.  If I am using solid garlic and chilies, I use a chopper or food processor again.  This mixture lasts well for a few days too.

Some meat!  My wife does not eat red meat, but beef is common.  Really, I have seen tofu, shrimp, scallop, salmon, beef, chicken, pork and any mixture of the above.  Often I see barbecued meat, and I love it but the originals I had used JERKY!  There are special Vietnamese jerky recipes out there, but I swear the one place just had cut up a very basic teriyaki beef stick like I could find in the gas station.  365 Brand has a very nice teriyaki flavored jerky, and we eat the teriyaki turkey with this the most.  If I get a proper barbecue together for this, I'll post it but probably something Asian and heavy on the lemongrass.  If served with barbecued meat, the meat is usually served hot on top of the cold papaya, but the meat could be cut up cold for a nice hot summer meal.

Sliver the jerky, throw it on top (if you are using jerky, it can sit with the fruit.  If you are doing hot meat, keep it separate until you are ready to add the dressing and eat.

You can add rice vermicelli that has been cooked up and either hot or cold.  Because I want the papaya to shine, I do half as many noodles as papaya.  Maybe a cup of noodles to two cups of papaya, but I didn't use noodles on the day I took the pictures.  Add the noodles right before the dressing, especially if you are using hot.  If you are using noodles, you may need a little more dressing.

And, whenever you are ready to eat:

Add the dressing and mix all the ingredients well and you have a party in your mouth!  Throw some more chopped nuts on top to garnish.

This is what I ate the night before, and the morning of my Sandan test.  I love it!  I was having some difficulties finding a simple recipe for this, so here y'all go.  Some uncommon ingredients, but amazing flavor and healthy.