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Colorful and crunchy papaya salad, with bruised tomatoes and long beans. Garnished with crushed peanuts and chilled poached shrimp.
Sacha Hirschfeld

Papaya Salad

This recipe should be on your starting line-up this summer. It's refreshing, healthy, and will transport you to South East Asia in just one bite!
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Papaya Ice-Bath Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Salads
Cuisine: Cambodian, Southeast Asian, Thai
Calories: 98
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups unripe green papaya peeled and shredded
  • 2 garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 Thai chilies roughly chopped
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp palm sugar may sub brown
  • 3 tbsp roasted peanuts coarsely chopped (plus more for garnish)
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • ½ cup long beans chopped into 1" pieces; may sub green beans but not haricots verts
  • ½ cup small variety tomatoes halved
  • ½ cup carrots peeled and shredded
  • ¼ cup Thai basil packed
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro packed
  • ¼ cup fresh mint packed

Equipment

  • 1 large bowl for papaya ice-water bath
  • 1 large bowl with tight fitting lid
  • 1 julienne peeler I bought one in Vietnam and it's a life saver! You can buy them online and they're inexpensive.

Method
 

  1. Place your shredded papaya in an ice-water bath for 15 minutes. This will ensure the crunchiest papaya! Make sure to drain and dry well with paper towels. The julienned papaya should be as dry as possible so as to not dilute the dressing.
  2. In a mortar and pestle or food processor, pound or pulse chilies and garlic until crushed into small pieces. Add salt, sugar, and peanuts; pound into the chilies and garlic. You still want to be able to see small pieces of chilies and peanuts. Add lime juice and fish sauce; mix to combine.
    If using a food processor, be sure to pulse rather than blend. You're aiming for a coarse looking kinda-paste/kinda-not.
  3. Transfer to a large bowl. Add long beans and tomatoes; lightly bruise them by gently pounding into the dressing.
  4. Add papaya, carrot, and fresh herbs; toss to combine. I always opt to use my hands for this one, because I swear massaging the papaya into the sauce produces better results.
  5. Serve garnished with chopped peanuts. I opted to add a few chilled poached prawns on top (totally optional). That's my go-to for this dish!