Tam Mak Hoong

Instructions

1. 1 Using a sharp knife or julienne peeler, peel the green papaya and shred it into long, thin strips about two millimetres wide. You should have about three cups of loosely packed shredded papaya for one serving.
2. 2 In a large clay or wooden mortar, pound the garlic cloves and bird's eye chilies together with a heavy pestle until they form a rough, fragrant paste. The mortar should be big enough to toss the salad in later.
3. 3 Add the cut long beans and halved cherry tomatoes to the mortar. Pound gently, just enough to bruise them and release their juices without completely smashing them into a pulp. You want visible, textured pieces remaining.
4. 4 Add the fish sauce, padaek, lime juice, and palm sugar to the mortar. Stir and pound briefly to dissolve the sugar and combine the dressing ingredients into a cohesive, pungent sauce at the bottom of the mortar.
5. 5 Add the shredded papaya to the mortar in two batches, pounding and tossing with the pestle and a large spoon after each addition. The goal is to gently bruise the papaya so it absorbs the dressing while staying crunchy.
6. 6 Taste the salad and adjust the balance of flavours: add more lime for sourness, fish sauce for salt, sugar for sweetness, or chilies for heat. The final taste should be a bold, harmonious balance of all four elements.
7. 7 Transfer the finished tam mak hoong to a plate, scraping out all the dressing from the mortar. Serve immediately alongside a basket of warm sticky rice, using pinches of rice to scoop up the spicy, tangy salad.