Last summer kick-off - papaya salad

Bon Apetit recently released their new "it" restaurants for 2014, ranging from southern comfort food in DC to a buzzing food court in California.

It made me think of what my "favorites" to eat are. Or what would be my last meal on earth? Probably a hard boiled egg and rice - simple, but satisfying.

A "favorite" I can never turn down, however, is a good sweet, salty, papaya salad, Thai or Laos style (both of which are equally delicious in their own way). And what better thing to make in the wake of the waning summer days?

Thai style papaya salad (photo courtesy of Dragfyre)

Papaya salad is a perfect complement of tangy, salty goodness. Young papaya is shredded and tossed in a bed with chopped green beans, shredded carrots, and tomatoes in a lime-fish sauce mixture. While the Thai style spotlights crisp green beans and sometimes features fermented blue crab paste, the Laotian version kicks up the flavor by adding shrimp paste as the salt component. Both versions taste great and have a simple backbone recipe that's free to adjust (as you'll see below).

Laos papaya salad (photo courtesy of Takeaway)

My first experience of a papaya salad was when I was still living in Stockton. There was a park where women would sell a Laos/Cambodian style papaya salad that was served with beansprouts and white rice noodles. The noodles were a great starch substance to an otherwise light salad. To this day, papaya salad is a menu item that I constantly look for in restaurants (not nearly as frequently appearing like pad thai, but papaya salad, if done right, is a major treat!). I think my favorite places to get papaya salad is still at a Thai temple in Fremont, CA (which no longer has a food court, boo).

Papaya salad is very simple to construct. I don't even have a strict recipe I use - everything about this recipe screams laziness and ease of execution. Considering that people like varying degrees of salty and sour, papaya salad can be done the way you like it as well! While easy to make, this salad is extremely versatile and plays well with different textures and tastes.

Ingredients:
- 1 whole papaya young shredded (must be green)
- 2 carrots shredded (optional, not a deal breaker if you don't have it)
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- Handful of green beans, chopped longways (also optional)
- Lime or lemon, 1/2 lime/lemon at a time
- Fish sauce, 1/2 tbsp at a time
- Dried shrimp (optional)
- Fermented shrimp paste (if you want to do it more Lao style), 1/2 tbsp
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved or 2 roma tomatoes sliced
- Peanuts for salad topping

Protocol:
1. Add in shredded vegetables, garlic, green beans, and tomatoes - mash lightly with a mortal and pestle
2. When softly mashed (don't pummel to a pulp), add in fish sauce, lime, and paste - I have them in increments because you shouldn't add a ton on your first try. Instead, get a feel for how you want it to taste, slowly adjusting.
3. Adjust levels of salty (fish sauce, or shrimp paste) or sour (lime/lemon) until happy - I like my ratio to be slightly more salty than sour
4. Eat papaya salad alone, with rice noodles, or on top of a bed of mixed greens/herbs/beansprouts! Top with peanuts for an extra crunch!

Until next time, happy eating all!