I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Did you miss me? 
Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! Now, onto the recipe!
After having green papaya salad at a Thai restaurant, I thought it might be fun to try making it at home. And it also made sense to pair it as the appetizer to go with the noodles. The chopping took a while, but it was well worth the effort. The crunchy, refreshing papaya + jicama was refreshing against the fresh cilantro and fresh mint. Sprinkling of chopped peanuts on top added a good layer of contrast in texture!
Did you know that a green papaya has a star center? The seeds were interesting. It reminded me of packing peanuts – light and fluffy!
Speaking of peanuts, the only peanuts I had were the ones in the shell. I spent 20 minutes peeling them one by one, and then dicing it into bits. No fun!
From Rasa Malaysia (Note: Original recipe includes shrimp)
Ingredients:
1 green papaya, julienned
1 green mango, julienned
1/2 jicama, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 cup of chopped peanuts
1/4 cup of fresh lime juice
1/4 cup of Thai fish sauce (I used a little less)
1 tablespoon of light brown sugar
1 tablespoon of chopped mint
1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro stems
1/2 teaspoon of garlic-chili paste
Fresh mint, roughly chopped
Fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
Procedure:
1. Toss together the julienned papaya, mango, carrots, jicama and herbs in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients of the dressing together and set aside.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss together. Dress on a platter and generously sprinkle with the chopped peanuts. Lime wedges on the side.
July 8, 2009
Ooh, yummy! Can you eat the seeds? They look fun!