Somtum, what can I say about it…I LOVE IT! It's one of my all times, hands down favorite dish in the world. It can very well be the national dish of Thailand for that matter, at least I would definitely vote for it. Despite being so popular, rarely are there articles making Somtum the star, as it's usually relegated to being just a side dish. Well, NO MORE! This is it…..no more being a sidekick. This here is your dedication to the almighty tasty Somtum!

What is Somtum? For those of you that don't know what this yummy dish is, it's basically a lip smacking, spicy, tangy, and salty papaya salad. Except this salad is not tossed, but smashed up in a mortar with a wooden pestle. Its origin is North-eastern Thailand ("E-sarn") and our close neighbor across the Mekong River, Laos. So hats off to these people for coming up with such wonderful dish!

There are many varieties of Somtum nowadays, and there are also what we call "tum Thai" (Thai version) and "tum Lao" (Lao version), and "Yes" you can get the "tum Lao" in Thailand..
The main difference being that the Thai version uses fish sauce, peanuts and long string beans. While the Lao version uses pickled crabs and "pla ra", a pungent, fermented fish sauce. The smell is horrific, but people love it! The "tum Lao" version is great, but I personally prefer "tum Thai", since I love peanuts and long string beans, plus I don't usually carry breath mints around.

Your basic Somtum ("tum Thai") is prepared by first crushing some fresh Thai chili peppers and garlic together in a mortar. Shredded green papaya is then added (in the mortar), followed by some dried shrimps, palm sugar, fish sauce ("nam pla"), fresh tomato, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and toasted peanuts (some people add MSG as well and insists it's a must-have ingredient, as for me…I'm not "down with MSG"). Everything is then smashed up together in the mortar until all the flavors are perfectly mixed. A taste is then followed using your fingers (YUM!!), not salty or tangy enough? Add more fish sauce and lime juice, and then more smashing!. Once you get the flavor just right, plate it up and serve with these must-have accompaniments:

- Sticky rice
- Kanom jeen (noodles)
- Grilled chicken
- Tom Sab, a spicy & sour soup

Another one of my favorite Somtum variation is "tum poo mar", which is Somtum with fresh crab, shasimi style! It has the same flavor as the regular Somtum, but with fresh, sweet raw crabs. This is a step-up for newbies, but I'm a well seasoned Somtum connoisseurs.