Khao Mun Somtam with Nua Khem Foi

Somtam

Ingredients:

Green papaya, finely chopped	4 cups
Dried chili (seeds removed and soaked in water)	1 each
Garlic, chopped 1 tablespoon Peppers	7 each
Tamarind juice	1 tablespoon
Fish sauce	3 tablespoons
Dried shrimps, ground	1/4 cup
Palm sugar	3 tablespoons
Lime, diced	1/4 cup
Fresh vegetables – lettuce, cha-plu and thonglang leaves

Directions:

• Pound green papaya slightly in a mortar for a few times
• Add garlic, dried chili, and peppers, and grind well.
• Bring the mixture of tamarind juice, fish sauce and sugar to boil, allow to cool, and add 1 tablespoon of lime juice.
• Mix the mixture and sauce together, spoon onto the papaya, mix well, and add dried shrimps and diced lime. Serve with lettuce, cha-plu and thonglang leaves

Khao Mun (Rice cooked in coconut milk)

Ingredients:

Uncooked rice	1 1/2 cups (300 grams)
Coconut milk	3 cups
Sugar	2 tablespoons
Salt	2 teaspoons

Directions:

• Wash rice in water once, and rinse off. Allow to drain in a strainer.
• Mix coconut milk, sugar and salt together. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture through a thin white cloth onto the rice. Boil or steam for about 30 minutes until the rice is well-cooked.

Nua Khem Phad Wan (Sweetened Salted Beef)

Ingredients:

Salted beef	200 grams
Vegetable oil	¼ cup
Shallots, fried	¼ cup
Sugar	¼ cup

Directions:

• Wash the beef and steam for 15 minutes. Pound with a wooden stick until the meat is tender. Tear into small stripes.
• Toast the beef in little oil on a low heat until crisp. Add little more oil if the texture is too dry. Add sugar and half of the fried shallots in the crisp beef. Top with the remaining fried shallots

Correct Characteristics of Somtam Thai:

• Green papaya must be crisp, finely chopped, and pounded in a mortar until tender.
• Somtam must taste mild and sour, not too sweet or too spicy, and must be fragrant but not watery.

Cooking Tips:

• To make green papaya crispy, soak whole papayas in cold water until their texture is crisp and fresh before peeling. The papaya will be more crispy if chopped rather than sliced. Chopped papaya should not be soaked in water or its texture will be too soft.
• Big dried chilies are better than small ones as ingredient of Somtam for mild taste.
• Mix tamarind paste, fish sauce and sugar together and cook it well first before adding to Somtam to prevent unpleasant odor.

Eating Culture:

1. Somtam can be eaten with Khao Mun (rice cooked in coconut milk) as the main meal.
2. For fushion eating, this Thai-style spicy salad can be eaten with steak in place of salad.

How to Serve:

• Spoon rice onto three plates, put the sweetened beef on the sides of the plates.
• Spoon Somtam onto three more plates 7 inches in diameter. Place the lettuce, cha-plu and thonglang leaves (one lettuce leaf, three cha-plu leaves and a few thonglang leaves) on the sides of the dishes.
• Somtam sauce can be prepared in large quantify in advance to save cooking time. It can be kept in bottles for about a week if refrigerated.
• Serve with the main meal.

Recipe Variations:

Som Tam as Salad

Name Derivative :

Somtam is named according to its cooking method – being pounded in a mortar (Tam) – and its taste of sourness from tamarine paste or lime juice (Som).

Nutritional and Medicinal Properties of Herbs used in Khao Mun Som Tam:

Gratiem (Garlic)

Use : Almost all-Thai dishes contain garlic, in soups, curries, salads, sauces and pan-fried dishes.
Medicinal properties :Cures and prevent atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, aids digestion, relieves cold symptoms, and fights some intestinal parasites.

Hua Hom (Shallots)

Use :All kinds of curry pastes hot sauces and salads.
Medicinal properties :Aids digestion, relives cold symptoms, increases appetite, regulates menstruation.

Prik Kee Noo (Fresh Small Chili Peppers)

Use :The small chili peppers are the thing, which gives the characteristically hot taste and aroma of Thai cooking. It is the star ingredient of most dishes. Almost any dish will taste better with a small addition of these tiny hot peppers. Tomyam and Tomka cannot be made without them.
Medicinal properties :Relieves diarrhea, stimulates digestion, the heat increases blood flow to taste buds and thus increases appetite, relieves infection, dissolves blood clod, prevents intestinal cancer.

Lime or Manao (in Thai)

Lime juice is an ingredient in Yam (Thai salad), Tom Yam and Kaeng Som (Thai sour curry) and as beverage. It relieves coughs, sore throat, swollen gum, tooth bleeding, constipation, dizziness, the lack of Vitamin C, and phlegm.

Pepper (Cayenne or Red Pepper)

Use :Used as ingredient in Kaeng Liang, red curry and Kaeng Pa paste. Used as garnish. In many dishes, soup and boiled rice.
Medicinal properties :Helps constipation, flatulence and nausea.

Nam Makam Piak (Tamarind Paste)

Use :The sour paste is used in place of limejuice, especially in Tom Klong and some salad dressing. Tamarind paste is both sweet and sour. It adds flavor and color to the final food products.
Medicinal properties :Prevents and relieves constipation, relieves cold symptoms i.e. coughing, runny nose.