Tum Mak Hung (Papaya Salad)
Tum mak hung is a spicy traditional Laotian salad made from shredded green or unripened papaya.
This salad had been prepared
and enjoyed by Lao people from north to south for many generation.
Now it is a
very common dish eaten throughout Laos and Thailand.
It originates in Laos, but now
the people of two countries are enjoying it. This is a unique dish as
all ingredients are home grown and free from harmfull chemical. Tam mak
hung is often served with sticky rice, ping gai (fried chicken) and raw
vegetables.
Tum mak hung can be made
according to the customer's tastes, which involves balancing the tastes
such as sour, spicy, salty, and sweet. For example if you do not like
hot and spicy just put less chilli or no chilli at all and the same
thing apply to sour and sweet.
Ingredients to make this salad
contain some or all of the following items:
- Salt
- Chili
- Garlic
- Sugar
- Padaek
- Fish sauce
- Shrimp paste
- Lime
- Tomatoes
1.
First prepare the papaya by peeling the dark green skin and shred it.
2.
In a ceramic mortar & pestle, add the whole garlic cloves and
chilies. Pound with the pestle a few times to mash.
3.
Pound a few more times, and add shredded papaya. This helps mix the
garlic & chilies. Pound some more.
4.
Add the sugar, fish sauce and salt and pound more. Make sure everything
is well mixed.
5.
Add the tomato, chopped into large pieces. Pound more, but not as hard.
Add the lime juice and the rest of the papaya. Pound about 10-15 times
while mixing with a spoon. You want to evenly coat the papaya with the
juices while pounding the flavor into the papaya, but don’t
pound so hard that the papaya disintegrates.
