Papaya Salad Revisited

I think i have already told you a story about a laotian restaurant in Paris which serves the best papay salad in town, that I couldn't figure out what the ingredients are. All i know is that they put a small crab alike in the dish. Well this kind of crab does not live in the sea, but in the paddy field... i used to play with them, long long time ago, when i was just 3-4, in a neighbourhood of the central Jakarta. Nowadays it is impossible to play with this small crab, there is no more empty land in the crowded but chic neighbourhood that my family had not lived there since ages !!!

Well, forget about the crab, i don't know where to find them in Paris (or even if i live in Jakarta). The most important thing is that the ability to make a young papaya salad, just like they have in the restaurant.

My friend sugest me to add shrimp paste to the regular recipe (fish sauce + palm sugar + garlic + lemon + chili + dried small shrimps). And i do a little bit of research on the net, and decided to put a little bit of tamarind. And voilààààà.... i made it... (to bad that i put too much carrot compared to the papaya slices). But it is still acceptable!!!

Love this new recipe so much!

PS: crazy silly me.... i browsed my old blog , and i found the same ingrendients there for the same som tam (papaya salad)... i must have forgotton this recipe, and tried just any normal recipes proposed by the net, and i did not like them...but it seemed that i got stuck with them..crazy!

UPDATE 8/2012

Okay, i now notice that Lao papaya salad is a little bit different than its counterpart in Thailand (or maybe in Vietnam). After numerous video on the net about making papaya salad, i now make my own conclusion:
Lao's is using a black fermented paste from fish, with a little crab (still alive inside it). And i think.. (please correct me), using a little bit of oyster sauce beside the shrimp paste.

I just notice these differences when i went to a lao restaurant that i visit several times during hte past 1 year, and then i asked for the same papay as my opening dish. The waiter who happened to be the owner, responded ,"Which version do you want, Thai or Lao?" I chosed Lao's totally. But i did not really ask him the different between the two. Then when the plate came in front of me, i noticed that the sauce was darker and thicker than i had ever noticed. So i made a little bit of researche on the net....

Above is the picture of  my home made papaya salad. And i can tell you it tasted just the same as the one that i had in the Lao restaurant that i told you. And as usual, if i cracked a recipe, i turned into a very happy person :)) Click this link below to see a video about the papaya salad!!