Som Tam Phonlamai - Wine & Spirits Magazine

Som Tam Phonlamai


For a sweet and spicy complement to sparkling wine this summer, Andy Ricker of Portland’s Pok Pok suggests Som Tam Phonlamai, a Thai fruit salad. Ricker [andyricker.com], now living in a village outside the city of Chiang Mai, has made a career out of researching Thai food and bringing it to the States. In fact, he’s written an entire cookbook on The Drinking Food of Thailand, with plenty of other exotic ideas for snacks with summer sparklers. For this salad, he gently pounds the ingredients with a mortar and pestle—well worth the effort to bring out the sweet, salty and spicy flavors of the fruit and Thai chili. —Alissa Bica


Andy Ricker’s Som Tam Phonlamai (Photo: Andy Ricker)

Ingredients
  

Som Tam Phonlamai

    Serves 2 to 4

    • 1 teaspoon fresh red Thai chili cut in 1/4 inch pieces
    • 1 tablespoon palm sugar
    • 2 wedges lime
    • 1 teaspoon dry shrimp
    • 1/2 cup shredded green papaya loosely packed
    • 1/4 cup carrot julienned
    • 1 ounce fish sauce
    • 1 ounce lime juice
    • 2 cups cut seasonal fruit apple, pear, mango, pineapple, jicama
    • 3 cherry tomatoes halved
    • 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
    • 1 pinch phrik ton (toasted chili powder)

    Instructions
     

    • Smash chilis and palm sugar in mortar and pestle. Add lime wedges and dry shrimp, crush.
    • Add papaya, carrot, fish sauce and lime juice, pound gently with pestle to combine.
    • To make two cups of the fruit blend, use three piece of each fruit cut into 1/2 inch by 2 inch pieces. This is a seasonal blend of pear, apple, pineapple, guava, jicama, jujubee, green mango, etc. to make a random chop. (See photo for size and shape of pieces.) Add fruit, pounding gently with pestle to mix.
    • Add cherry tomatoes, crush gently to release juices.
    • Add peanuts and mix with spoon to combine. Plate on small oval plate or bowl and sprinkle with phrik pon. Garnish with half-peeled rambutan if available.
      Should be spicy, sweet, sour and a little salty!

    This recipe is published as part of our Regional Tasting Report on Sparkling Wines.


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