1/2 clove of garlic
1 1/2 TBSP fish sauce
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 Lime
1 cherry tomato
2 cups of shredded papaya, peeled and julienned or shredded
1/8 cabbage
½ Birds eye chili pepper
1 tsp roughly chopped peanuts
Method
In the mortar, muddle ½ clove garlic and TBSP sugar and ½ of a birds eye chili pepper*, you should have a nicely mixed pulp. Then add 2 cups of shredded green papaya and 1 sliced cherry tomato. Squeeze half of a limes juice on it and add 1 ½ TBSP fish sauce, muddle and fold for about 2 minutes. It’s best to muddle with a large spoon so that you can mix all the ingredients in the mortar.
Taste. Add more lime juice or fish sauce to your taste. Use a large piece of romaine lettuce on a plate. Serve papaya salad on the lettuce leaf. Garnish with a teaspoon of roughly chopped peanuts and 1/8 cabbage. Cut the cabbage in half and quarter the half.
Go to Chinatown and get a large mortar and pestle set. Otherwise, after muddling, you can massage all the ingredients together in a stainless steel bowl and gloves. Also in Chinatown they sell green papaya that is peeled and shredded.
*To determine how much chili pepper to use, try this guide. It will also depend on how spicy your chili pepper is.
Mild – none
Medium heat ½ birds eye chili pepper
Hot 3 birds eye chili pepper
Thai Hot 6 birds eye chili pepper
Lao Hot 7 birds eye chili pepper
