Green Papaya holds a special place of importance in Thai cuisine. Read on to learn all about this unripe fruit and how its used in Thai cooking.
You may be familiar with Green Papaya from its use in the popular Thai green papaya salad known as Som Tam. But what exactly is it? Where do you buy it, how do you store it, and how is it used in Thai cooking? Well explore these questions and more in this article all about Green Papaya.[feast_advanced_jump_to]
How is it used in Thai cooking?
Green Papaya is most often shredded and used in the Thai salad known as Som Tam. In Thai, Som means sour and Tam refers to the method by which the salad is made, AKA pounding the ingredients together in a clay mortar and pestle. There are many different variations of Som Tam, but the original one, and the one that most people think of when they hear the name, is made with Green Papaya. This unripe fruit is also used in a few other Thai soups and stir fries, but Som Tam is by far its most popular use in Thai cuisine.
What is Green Papaya?
Green Papaya is the unripe fruit of the papaya tree. It has dark green skin, white flesh, and white or gray seeds. It is hard and heavy, and its meat is firm. Although this might seem worlds away from the soft orange flesh and black seeds of a ripe papaya, they are in fact the same fruit. Green Papaya is simply harvested while the fruit is still young and has not had time to ripen.
In Thai, Green papaya is known as Malagaw Dib (มะละกอดิบ). Malagaw is the Thai word for Papaya, and Dib is the Thai word for Raw. Therefore, in Thai, this unripe fruit is referred to as “raw papaya”. For more Thai culinary words, see this article about How to Interpret a Thai Menu.
This Green Papaya Salad Recipe is spicy, salty, sweet, and A LITTLE NUTTY
FAQ
What is a good substitute for green papaya?
What is the difference between green mango and green papaya?
Is green papaya just unripe papaya?
What is the flavor of green papaya?
Can you substitute green mango for green papaya?
You can substitute green mango with green papaya to make Thai green papaya salad ( Som Tum ), or add other ingredients like boiled prawns, cucumbers and cashew nuts for a more varied creation. Authentic Thai recipes uses palm sugar for the sweetness, but I used honey as a convenient substitute.
Can I substitute avocado with mango in my diet?
Mango is not a substitute for avocado as they do not provide the same amount of nutrients. Avocado is high in calories and provides good quality fat while mango is low in calories and provides almost no fat.
What can I substitute for green papaya?
If you’ve got no papaya then try to find a similar sweet tropical fruit like pawpaw, pepino, or mango. To replace green papaya in savory applications use chayote, bottle gourd, daikon, or jicama. 1. Pawpaw Pawpaws are large, oval-shaped fruit with greenish-yellow skin and a mild, tropical flavor when ripened.
Can I substitute Thai green mango for unripe mango?
Although you may substitute Thai green mango with unripe mango, I personally prefer the Thai variety which is sold specifically in its unripe form for salad dishes, as they are not sour or tongue biting like some varieties of unripe mangoes. I found my Thai green mango from Sheng Shiong supermarket, Singapore.