04-11-09 Daeng's Som-Tom Papaya Salad

With the start of Songkran, Thailand New year Celebration, officially starting Monday Daeng's Som-Tom Papaya Stand is going in full swing.

I went with her this morning to take pictures of her trip to the market and to set up her stand.

We got up about 5:45 AM and she had coffee and toast, in bed. I figured I had better be nice to her since she is a business owner.

She got up and sang the "Good Morning Song" to me. It is nice to see her happy because when she's happy, I'm happy. Funny thing how that works.

We had to stop on the way to the morning market as the gas gauge said: "EMPTY". It was nice to see the price of gas has come down to 25.37 Thai Baht a liter. That is about $2.75 a US Gallon.

We drove up the road to the morning market. It was a very busy time even at 6:40 in the morning on Saturday.

We parked our motorbike and headed to the fish area of the market so Daeng could buy crab. She bought a kilo of live crab for 50 Thai Baht (TB). We left the crab there to pick up on the way back.

Next stop was to buy a green vegetable called "ka-boom". It is served by itself with pieces of cabbage along with the Som-Tom Papaya Salad.

Then she also bought a small vegetable that I don't know the name. It is used in the making of the salad. It looks like a round cucumber from the outside.

She also bought ten kilograms of green papaya for 63 TB. The exchange rate for Thai Baht (TB) to the US dollar is 35 TB to 1 USD. We left the papaya there to pick up on the way back.

We did stop and looked at some pineapple but did not buy any as we already had to much to carry back.

Next stop, long green beans,

limes

and tomatoes.

We went to the top of the market and bought some palm sugar from the Chinese man that has a speciality shop.

We than walked back thru the market and picked up all the items that we had purchased.

We loaded up the motorbike and headed over to Daeng's stand area where she stashed the items we had purchased. She hid them under her tables and chairs so no one would see them.

That was everything except the crab. The crab we took with us to her Mother's place where she steamed the live crab to cook.

She also washed some brine shrimp. She is using brine shrimp instead of bamboo worm as the bamboo worm is to expensive this time of year.

It was funny to watch the crab run around the cooking area and Daeng picking them up and throwing them back in the pail. I picked one up and it pinched me so I threw it back down. Daeng laughed at me.

After everything was cooked and cooled she loaded up everything. The motorbike was full so I walked over to the area of her stand.

When I arrived she was already setting up.

One of the reasons that folks like to buy salad from her is she is very clean in all her preparation.

She washes everything and makes sure it is extremely clean.



By about 11:00 she is ready for business.

Daeng thanked me for helping her with sarcasm in her voice and told me she could handle everything from here.

I said "Good Bye" since she had a BIG knife in her hand.

You can see more of her cooking at the is link: COOKING FOR THE KIDS

Daeng’s recipe for this salad is:

• 2 cups green papaya peeled and shredded (substitute: green
hard mango or cucumber).
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1-3 small red chilies
• 1/2 cup long been or green bean, cut into1/2 to 1 inch lengths.
• 2 tbsp dried bamboo worm (for westerners - use 2 tbsp dried
brine shrimp)
• 1-2 tbsp Thai fish (anchovy) sauce
• 1-2 tbsp lime juice or tamarind juice
• 1 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1-2 small tomatoes, quartered
• 2 tbsp crushed roasted peanuts
• Daeng likes to add about 1 small fermented crab (I do not
like the fermented crab as you have to pick out the pieces as
you eat.) You weak stomached folks may want to stay away
from this fermented crab. Fresh, steamed crab works great, too.

First, she peels the papaya and rinses with running water to
remove the acid. She uses a knife to make little cuts in the papaya
and then cuts it long ways to get skinny pieces about the size of a
tooth pick. Another way is to remove the seeds and shred the
papaya with a grater. Set aside for now.
Next, place the garlic cloves and the chilies in a mortar and
mash with a pestle until crushed into chunks. If you use fermented
crab this is the place to put it in.
Then place the papaya and the remaining ingredients in the
mortar and gently combine all ingredients by mixing with the pestle
and a spoon.
For more spicy - add more chilies, less spicy - use less chilies
and a little more sugar. Westerners (farangs) seem to like the
sweet taste.
Serve cold but have some fresh cabbage sliced along with some
sticky rice to dip into the “Som Tom” sauce.
Note: The bamboo worm does not taste like chicken, it tastes like shrimp.