Holiday Ayo - Som tam is a salad based on green papaya from Thailand. Som tam is not like a salad in general which has a savory and sweet taste. Som tam actually has a spicy and sour taste. Because of its unique spicy taste, som tam is included in CNN's version of one of the most delicious spicy foods in the world.

According to The Culture Trip , som tam is known as a spicy salad made from thinly sliced green papaya. The ingredients for making som tam consist of Thai chilies, fresh garlic, dried shrimp, fish sauce, sweet palm sugar, peanuts, lime, cherry tomatoes, green long beans, and green papaya. Green papaya was chosen because it will give a crunchy texture to the salad.

source: Messy Vegan Cook

Ingredients other than green papaya, namely long beans, peanuts, and tomatoes will be pounded in a mortar until smooth and runny. This fine material is used as a salad dressing. This dish is usually eaten with kow neeyao or sticky rice. For seafood connoisseurs, sometimes crab is also added to the som tam to add crunch and umami flavor. Each region in Thailand generally has its own version of som tam recipe.

According to Guide Michelin , there are many theories about the history of som tam . Some suggest that som tam was present when papayas from Central America were introduced to Thailand before the reign of King Narai the Great. However, in ancient Thai cookbooks such as “A Gourmet Cook's Recipes” by Lady Plian Phasakonwong which was first published in 1908, during the reign of King Rama V to be precise, there is no som tam recipe found . In fact, there is only a pu tam recipe using tamarind as the main ingredient.

Another allegation points to the appearance of khao man som tam in the book "Tamrap Sai Yaowapha" which was first published in 1935. There is a recipe for making papaya salad as a vegetable accompaniment to khao man (rice cooked in chicken broth). Another version says that som tam uses papaya as we know it today, which has only been popular in the last few decades.

source: SBS

It is estimated that som tam originates from the Northeast region of Thailand, namely Isan. Because there is a word tam som which refers to pounding or crushing something sour as the main ingredient. This has led to speculation that som tam has existed for a long time in Isan, using a variety of seasonal fruits or vegetables with a sour taste.

Then, after some time, papaya became a popular ingredient. The Isan people migrated, they brought tam mak hung  or tam bak hung , which they called som tam with papaya, to other areas of Thailand where it has reached its current popularity.  This papaya salad dish is not only popular in Thailand, but also in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. According to food historians, this papaya salad originated in Thailand's northeastern neighbor, Laos. This is why som tam is popular in the Isaan area, in the northeastern region of Thailand.