Google Doodle celebrates Thai dish Som Tum, a spicy green papaya salad

Google animated Doodle celebrates signature Thai dish Som Tum (ส้มตำ), a sweet and spicy green papaya salad likewise famous in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. On 14 December 2012, Thailand’s Department of Cultural Promotion registered Som Tum as a national intangible cultural heritage food.

Green papaya salad is a spicy salad produced using destroyed unripe papaya that is believed to have originated in Laos, however these days is eaten all through Continental Southeast Asia (Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand).

The Thai variety som tam has been listed at number 46 on World’s 50 most delightful food sources gathered by CNN Go in 2011 and 2018.

In the same way as other of the world’s most loved dishes, the origins of som tum are covered in mystery. Most food antiquarians accept the savory salad originated in Laos because of its rich history in the historic Isaan region, which includes areas of northeastern Thailand and borders Laos.

The classic Thai recipe calls for spicy Thai chilies adjusted by palm sugar, garlic, shrimp, fish sauce, peanuts, limes, cherry tomatoes, green beans, and green papaya.

The term “som tum” is a combination of two Isaan words meaning “tart flavor” and “to pound,” reflecting the first step in the salad’s preparation where a mortar and pestle is used to ground a few of the ingredients into a tart salad dressing. The dressing is combined with the remaining ingredients and finished off with roasted peanuts for an additional salty crunch. The end result is a salad that is at the same time salty, sweet, spicy, sour, and bitter—a flavor mix that characterizes Thai food.

A flavorful Thai salad, Som Tam (ส้มตำ) is a green papaya salad recipe that consolidates each of the four tastes – sour, chilli, sweet and salty. A healthy and delightful treat for informal breakfast, lunch or an easygoing light supper.

In Thailand, it is standard that a client ask the preparer to make the dish fit as they would prefer. To specifically refer to the original style of papaya salad as ready in Laos or Isan, it is known as ส้มตำลาว or som tam Lao or basically as tam Lao and the dish as ready in central Thailand might be referred to as som tam Thai.

How the meal is arranged changes relying upon the area, however most pair this famous Thai staple with sticky rice. For those new to som tum, it’s prescribed that you focus on the number of chilis included in your salad as they are famously spicy!

On December 14, 2021, Google featured an animated Doodle on its home page for celebrating Som Tum (ส้มตำ).