Green papaya salad

Green Papaya Salad Recipe Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded green papaya
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 thai chili pepper (add more or less pepper to suit your taste)
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 1/4 tsp crab paste
• 2 tbsp salted crab
• 2 tbsp palm sugar crushed + 1 tbsp water (melt for 30 seconds in a microwave)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce (three crabs brand)
• 1/4 cup tamarind paste water
• 1/2 lime (this also equals about 1 tbsp, add more lime if you like it more sour)
• 1 1/2 tbsp crushed peanuts
• 5-7 cherry tomatoes sliced

Preparation

• Peel the green skin off the papaya with a peeler. Use the asian shredding peeler to get thin shreds. Or if you don't have one, chop the papaya all around and then use a knife to slice it into strips (doing it the old fashioned way makes the salad crisp).
• Melt the crushed palm sugar with 1 tbsp water in a microwave for 30 seconds
• To make the tamarind paste water, take a block of tamarind and add equal amount of hot water.  Let is soak for about 10-15 minutes and then squeeze out the juice.  You can use it just like this or put it through a sieve to remove the seeds.

Putting it all together

1. In a mortar, smash/grind the thai chili pepper.
2. Add the garlic clove and smash.
3. Add the shrimp paste, crab paste. Mix.
4. Add the salted crab and smash lightly to remove the juices from the crab.
5. Add the fish sauce, sugar syrup, tamarind paste water. Mix.
6. Add the tomatoes and smash lightly to bruise the tomatoes.
7. Put the shredded green papaya in a large bowl.
8. Add the sauce and crushed peanuts to the papaya and toss to coat the papaya.
9. Serve

Adjust the ingredient measurements to suit your taste! 

Kicking it up a notch:

• Add some long green beans
• Add some shredded carrots
• Add some dry small shrimp
• Add some khaub poob noodles
• Eat it with some pork rinds
• Add padek (mud fish) to give it a pungent kick
• Anything you like!!!!!

You can buy the ingredients at most asian grocery stores.  Just ask the clerk to help you find them.