Jesse’s Som Tam! Spicy Thai Papaya Salad.

"This spicy green papaya salad comes together quickly once you've prepped all the ingredients.  It really should be seasoned to taste, so please feel free to adjust the amount of chili, garlic, fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice as you go."

Ingredients
2 small or 1 large very firm green papaya
2-5 cloves of garlic
fresh hot chilis, green or red
half a bunch of long beans, cut into 1 1/2-2 inch lengths
10-15 cherry tomatoes, halved, or 3-4 small tomatoes, cut into small wedges
limes
fish sauce
sugar
roasted, roughly chopped peanuts

To prepare ingredients:
Peel papaya.  Then, you want to cut the pale green flesh into long strands.  You could use a mandoline to do this, or even just grate it, though that wouldn't give quite the texture you want.  Without an special tool, cut off thin sheets of it and then slice into matchsticks.  Set aside.

To build the salad:

Stem and deseed chilis, if you want to moderate the heat. Put garlic and chilis into a mortar (or large bowl) and pound with a pestle or wooden spoon.  You don't quite want a paste, but you want to do more than bruise them.  You can add sugar at this point to help with the process.


Add long beans, and pound with the pestle to bruise and lightly split them open.  Add tomatoes and do the same; they should hold together but be softened up.  Then add shredded papaya, 2 Tbsps fish sauce, juice of two or three limes, and sugar (if you didn't add sugar with the chilis and garlic).  Pound papaya with the pestle to bruise and allow it to start to absorb some the seasoning.  In terms of consistency, you don't want mush but a tender, well-mixed and highly seasoned salad.  Add additional fish sauce and lime juice to taste.

Serve chilled or at room temperature, with sticky rice if you have it.