Thai Green Papaya Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons maple syrup or sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped shallots (optional)
1 to 2 bird’s eye chili pepper (Thai chili pepper), sliced
Salad
1 medium green papaya (you’ll need about 4 1/2 cups shredded green papaya, soak in ice water for 10-15 minutes until they are firmer) -- it MUST be a GREEN ie. as unripe as possible papaya
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
1 to 2 persian cucumbers, julienned
1/3 cup loosely packed mint leaves, chopped
4 tablespoons peanuts, optional
cherry tomatoes, optional
green breans, optional
Directions
Prepare the dressing: Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and set aside.
Prepare the papaya: Slice off the ends of the green papaya. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the outer skin. Hold the peeled papaya with one hand and tap the papaya with a sharp knife with the other other. You should see shallow knife marks on the papaya. Carefully slice off a layer of the papaya (where you have been tapping), creating green papaya shreds.