Vietnamese Green Papaya Salad

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This salad has become my obsession and addiction of recent weeks. Maybe it is due to the green papaya which I have tasted here for the first time or maybe it’s the unusual, perfectly balanced hot, sour and sweet dressing… The truth is that after five or six meals in recent two weeks, instead of getting bored, I crave it more and more.

I suspect that a big part of my enchantment is due to the green papaya. Did you know that green papaya is simply unripe papaya? I suppose all my Asian friends will laugh here at my ignorance, but I’m still in awe at how huge is the difference between unripe and ripe fruit stage. While I am not fond of the ripe papaya’s overwhelming aroma, I adore the green one’s subtle, delicate scent and crunchy texture. I intend to explore more recipes from South-Eastern Asian countries and India, where apparently green papaya is very popular. Apparently papaya is not only flavoursome, but also healthy, so I hope it’s better than being addicted to bacon.

This salad is also my first step into the discovery of real Vietnamese cuisine. Since my only memories of “Vietnamese” food were greasy, heavy dishes in thick, sticky floury sauces, this salad was a revelation. The recipe comes from “Vietnamese Street Food” by Tracey Lister and Andreas Pohl, a book I have recently bought when I realised I didn’t know much about this country’s cuisine and didn’t have a single Vietnamese cookery book. The book is not an introduction to the Vietnamese cuisine, but only to its street food which for me is a fascinating world, so absent in European culinary culture. It is beautifully designed, contains luscious photos and tempting recipes. While reading it I realised that many ingredients used in Thai cuisine are also used in Vietnam and, as I have already mentioned in a previous post, Vietnamese use my beloved shiso quite a lot (called tia to or ti to, but don’t ask me how to pronounce it).

I have slightly modified the recipe, skipping dried beef  and fried shallots I didn’t have. I don’t know how much I missed without these ingredients (every time I made it I skipped them), but the result was awesome and far beyond my expectations.

Preparation: 15 minutes

Ingredients (serves 2 as a side dish):

1/4 medium green papaya

a handful of soybean/mung bean sprouts

3 Asian spring onions (white and whiteish parts only) or 1 Asian shallot (advised in the original recipe)

1 heaped tablespoon toasted and roughly crushed peanuts

1 heaped tablespoon fried onion/shallot (I have skipped it)

leaves from 4 branches of coriander

Sauce:

1 small bird’s-eye-chili, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

2 flat tablespoons sugar or Agave syrup

1 tablespoon fish sauce

juice from 1/2 lime

(shredded dried beef)

Peel the papaya and cut it into long matchstick threads (a mandolin is a good tool here).

Combine it with the sprouts, chopped spring onions and coriander leaves.

Mix the sauce ingredients and pour them over the vegetables.

Stir well, sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

 

Published by Sissi

52 Replies to “Vietnamese Green Papaya Salad”

  1. Other than some association of green papaya with the name of the movie, I have never seen or tasted this fruit. Good on you for coming up with a great light salad like this.

    1. Thank you, A_Boleyn. Green papaya is available in my Vietnamese grocery shop all year round. I didn’t dare buying it before because I don’t like ripe papaya and because it’s usually quite big.

  2. Hi Sissi! So glad you are exploring authentic Vietnamese food! My husband is Vietnamese, and through him, I’ve had the pleasure of eating some wonderful dishes. My favorites are usually the street foods, they are not easy to find here, well, let me rephrase, the good ones are difficult to find, but we’ve recently found a hole in the wall store that sells some fantastic yummies, and we’ve made weekly trips there to satisfy cravings. Can’t wait to see more from your posting!

    1. Thanks a lot, Jeno. I have completely forgotten that your husband was Vietnamese! I hope this salad would seem Vietnamese to him in spite of the fried onion and dried beef I have skipped. Lucky you! I wish we had tiny cheap street food shops here…

  3. Oh, I hear you on the papaya salad love cyber sister!! Your version is gorgeous with the bean sprouts – (wonderful addition) and crunchy peanuts…. yum! I am more familiar with the Thai derivation of papaya and mango salads but I don’t note a big difference – especially with the dressing – both paying tribute to chili, lime and fish sauce… giant toe curl…. ;-). And you just can’t beat the 15 minute prep – how great is that! Lovely presentation with your cheerful green bowl Sissi :).

    1. Thank you so much, Kelly. I have heard about the Thai salad too. It will go next in my green papaya list of dishes. Isn’t it incredible how some ingredients are similar? At least I don have to buy new kitchen cupboards when I discover a new ethnic cuisine 😉

  4. I love green papaya. We use it a lot in tenderising meat in Indian cooking. I like it in salad form like this and green mango is great too.

    I’ve been wanting a Vietnamese cookbook too and haven’t found a good one. I will check out the one you recommend.

    I love the simplicity of this salad.

    1. Thanks, Nazneen. I have read somewhere that it’s an excellent meat tenderiser. I must test it also this way. This book is really good, but as I said not as an introduction to the Vietnamese cuisine or as a list of the most popular dishes because it’s only street food, so they have omitted lots of dishes I’m sure. The street food recipes seem wonderful though.

  6. Green papaya is just unripe papaya? How cool is that? I adore green mango salad and the flavours you’ve described here are similar so I know I would love them too. We’re heading to Barcelona tomorrow and I hope to sample some wonderful tapas, Spanish style!

    1. I’m sure you would like this salad although green papaya is not sour like green mango. Have yonderful time in Barcelona.

  7. I’m so excited for you Sissi because that salad is seriously one of the best South East Asian dishes around! I love it too, but I’ve not yet made my own. Need to find green papaya vendor somewhere! In fact, I think I’ll go on the hunt right now!

  10. I love this salad. I’ve had the Thai version. But we don’t eat too much green papaya coz it’s used a lot for tenderizing meat. I can’t imagine my tummy getting all tenderized inside 🙂 Green mangoes are a great substitute too!

    1. Haha! I don’t think my tummy got tenderised, but I imagine that it was a bit similar to the Thai salad (from what Kelly has said). I must try it with green mangoes.

  11. Sometimes it happens to me too! I stick with a food and the more I eat it the more I want it, like addicted! I don’t blame you for your addiction, this salad looks so good and tasty!

  12. I like ripe papaya so much that it has always been hard for me to imagine a green papaya tasting very good. I’ve seen several recipes with it, but have never tried it. You’ve now convinced me that I NEED to give it a try. You make a good sell! Your salad looks delicious and your dressing is wonderful. Can’t wait to find some green papaya!

    1. Thank you so much, MJ. I think green papaya tastes like a completely different fruit, much more delicate and neutral in taste.

  13. Wow Sissi, I’m so happy to find a green papaya salad. which I will be able to make since my daughter has at least 3 papaya trees, eventhough they’re very young trees on large tree produces the best papayas. Will have to pick one off the tree before it ripens.
    Love Asian salads, and this is such a refreshing and unusual simple salad that would be welcome any time. Thanks for sharing!

  14. That is interesting that the more you eat of this Green Papaya Salad, the more you crave it! I have heard of green mangoes, but never green papaya. When I traveled through Indonesia I ate so much papaya that I got sick of it and haven’t eated it much since. I’d like to try this to see if I could re-aquire a taste for it!

    1. Barb, personally I really don’t like ripe papaya but love green one, they are like tyo similar fruits for me, so maybe you would like it too…

  16. This salad looks so similar to Thai Som Tam (Green papaya salad), except does not have bean sprout and dried beef. Vietnamese cuisine is one of my favourite, light, healthy & lots of herbs. I’m surprised when you said greasy & heavy. Good thing you bought the cookbook. Happy exploring!

    1. Hi, Shannon. From what I have read in Thai cookery book this salad is very similar indeed. You would be surprised how in certain countries Vietnamese cuisine is alterated…

  18. Hi Sissi, I did know about the papayas actually, although I’ve never tried one. Remember when I posted a papaya salad and lots of people said they hated papaya but didn’t mind green ones, so I got curious and was really surprised they’re commonly eaten like this too (unripe!).

    I love the sound of your salad here – the dressing especially sounds really good. Like it has a lovely fresh, piquant flavour!

    1. Thank you so much, Charles. I was one of those people 😉 I really am not a big fan of ripe papaya ( at the time I didn’t know though that I would love the green one).

  19. I like the Agave syrup as alternative to sugar as it has a milder and better sweet flavor. Love all the veggies that you used on this salad and especially the green papaya. Looks refreshing, Sissi! 🙂

  20. Sissi, You are so lucky to live in a city that has so many different ethnic grocery stores. I think your salad must be so tasty. I am lucky if I can find ripe papayas but I will be rummaging around through them looking to see if I can find a green one now.

    1. Karen, I’m sure you are the lucky one with affordable lobsters that make me dream for weeks…. Green papaya is worth looking for though.

  21. I love green papaya salad, but I’ve never prepared it at home, Sissi! You are a real foodie, trying out new flavors and new cuisines and it’s very inspiring to others, like me who tends to be hesitant sometimes because of stepping out of comfort zone. Sometimes it’s funny because most people think Japanese food is mysterious and they are hesitant to cook while I’m trying to convince it’s easy to cook. I’m hypocrite! LOL. Beautiful presentation Sissi!

    1. Nami, thank you for such kind words and compliments, but I also have problems with trying new cuisines. Vietnamese cuisine and this book have been on my mind for at least a year… It was the same with Japanese food, especially since the ingredients here are so expensive (now I know some are 7 or 8 times more expensive than in Japan!), so even starting with one or two meals is already an investment.
      I think if you like Thai cuisine (and if I remember you love it), it’s worth trying some Vietnamese. Ingredients are very similar (I didn’t have to buy anything new here).

  23. I went to thailand once and had this outdoor cooking class, and made green papaya salad. it’s called som tam, and the whole dish actually sounds a lot like what you’ve made there! I guess the cuisines cross because the two countries are so near! I love it, yum yum!

    1. Thanks, Shuhan. Thai salad is on my cooking list too because as you said it’s so similar. I have been cooking Thai for quite a long time, so I have some THai ingredients and I was happy to discover I was able to use them for Vietnamese dishes too (it’s a relief for my kitchen cupboards which are already close to their capacity limits).

  24. Hi Sissi, it’s been a while since I’ve visited you but I am so pleasantly happy to see this beautiful green papaya salad recipe on your site today! I am actually relatively new to green papaya as well. I eat the rippened ones but I have actually never had the green ones until I ate at a southeast Asian restaurant one time several years back. It was delicious and tasted so fresh. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

    1. Thank you so much, Sharon. Such a pleasure to see you once more here! I am glad you like the green papaya too. It’s so refreshing isn’t it?

  25. Hi Sissi,

    I love this salad and had a version of it a few weeks ago. Thanks so much for the recipe-I’ll give it a go and make it at home now…
    Just about to harvest the last of my shiso-any tempting recipes that you would recommend??

    1. Thanks, Green Dragonette. Sorry for my late answer, but I was on holidays. Shiso is such a wonderful addictive herb… You could try Shiso and Tomato Salad (http://www.withaglass.com/?p=5422): it’s simply heavenly; Shiso and Garlic Infused Soy Sauce (http://www.withaglass.com/?p=10633), which you can keep for weeks and which will be a nice change from standard soy sauce; In general here is the list of my shiso recipes (http://www.withaglass.com/?s=shiso), but sicne you are vegetarian if I remember well, you can substitute chicken with tofu or mushrooms in some recipes and this one (http://www.withaglass.com/?p=7890) will simply be perfect also without chicken. Good luck and please tell me if you need any help.

  26. Good timing Sissi! Got my papayas growing but they ll need some more time before I can pick them. I was asking some time back in the social networks for a green papaya recipe, and the suggestions were ok, mostly I had in mind to use it to tenderize beef, but then I feel its too strong and I prefer using ginger instead, so your salad recipe will come handy!

    I dont know anything about vietnamese cuisine. I am ready to learn more!

    Hope you are having a great week so far. =)

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