shellfish , peanuts, gluten-free, medium skill level recipe, pescatarian, small plateSeb HolmesFarang London prawns, chef recipe, payst london, london, london chef, london restaurant, papaya, green papaya, tamarind, lime juice, lime, peanuts, green beans, shrimp, tiger prawns, som tam, salad, pestle & mortar, chillispicy, chilli, birds eye chilli, spicy, fish sauce, sour, sweet, fruit, farang, sebby holmesComment

Grilled Tiger prawns & citrus som tam salad

shellfish , peanuts, gluten-free, medium skill level recipe, pescatarian, small plateSeb HolmesFarang London prawns, chef recipe, payst london, london, london chef, london restaurant, papaya, green papaya, tamarind, lime juice, lime, peanuts, green beans, shrimp, tiger prawns, som tam, salad, pestle & mortar, chillispicy, chilli, birds eye chilli, spicy, fish sauce, sour, sweet, fruit, farang, sebby holmesComment
Grilled Tiger prawns & citrus som tam salad

Som tam has fast become one of the most widely eaten and popular salads to come out of Asia. It originates from Lao, but now has many well-known variations from all over. This version is one I created for Farang. The use of clementine, which adds a natural sweetness, along with the juices of the grilled prawns, makes it a stand out dish. Try it with some sticky rice and some of our ginger and green sweet chilli dipping sauce for a proper feed.

This recipe was also published by The Independent

This recipe was also published in The Handbook

This recipe was also published in Verge Magazine

Serves 2

GF

8-10 prawns, cleaned, deveined and outer shells removed

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

4 garlic cloves, peeled

2 teaspoons dried shrimp

a pinch of Maldon sea salt

1 tablespoon peanuts, fried or roasted

3 red bird’s-eye chillies (more if you like it spicy)

10g green beans, chopped in 2

30g cherry tomatoes

200g shredded green papaya (can be found in most Asian supermarkets)

10–15g palm sugar

20ml thick tamarind water

juice of 2 limes

½ lime, chopped with the zest on

juice of 1 clementines

Coat the prawns in the fish sauce and oil, then place them on a hot grill for 2-3 minutes until the side in contact with the heat has turned pink. Turn the prawns over and repeat on the other side until they are hot throughout. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Pound the garlic and dried shrimp in a mortar and pestle, using the salt as an abrasive. Then pound in the peanuts to break them up just enough to mix through the salad; be careful not to over-pound them or they will turn into peanut butter.

Next, one by one, add the chillies, green beans, tomatoes, grilled prawns and papaya to the mortar, bruising them as you go to distribute the flavours.

Add the palm sugar, tamarind water, lime juice, chopped lime and the juice of 1 clementine. Give the salad a final bruising to ensure that all ingredients are packed full of the flavoursome dressing, making sure that the palm sugar has completely dissolved in the dressing, otherwise someone will get an unexpected sweet mouthful. Taste the dressing to check that it suits your tastes – it should be sweet, salty, sour and spicy with a hint of bitterness from the lime zest. Adjust the seasoning if necessary, then serve.

This recipe was also published by Hinton magazine.

Head chef & founder of Farang London restaurant. Cookbook author of ‘Cook Thai’ & ‘Thai in 7’. Chief curry paste basher and co-founder of Payst London.