There are a few Thai Restaurant in my area but most are own and operate by Lao people. I’ve noticed that most Americans are more familiar with Thai/Lao food especially Pad Thai, Tom Yum Goung, and Som Tum. This article is very interesting in the sense that it brings Som Tum to the next level. The original author for this article is Lam Yaka, and don’t mind me if I help him write, instead of just translating, to make it up to our standard, I’ll take it up another notch since I’m Laotian. The original article is in Koosang Koosom Magazine, written in Thai Language.

Som Tum (papaya salad) is something very popular among Thai and Lao people. People of all ages, genders, and different regions of the country or world can enjoy eating Som Tum. I’m not sure who came up with Som Tum, all I know is that it’s the main menu for Issan and Lao people that goes back to many, many centuries ago. What taste good is Som Tum with PaDak (fermented fish). Good PaDak is made of Pa Ga Dee (small fishes), and it has to have a very strong PaDak aroma for it to be good, EEWW. After that you have to dress it up before putting it into your Som Tum, some people like to boil their PaDak first, mix with sugar, brown rice (kao kau), and some would put small black crabs (pou na) which will give it a good flavor.

Issan people would eat Som Tum as their main meal because it’s something cheap and readily available in that region of the country. The most important thing is that it doesn’t have any fat content, therefore wouldn’t have to worry about gaining weight. By eating Som Tum, you will look slender, have nice skin complexion from the vitamins that you get from the vegetables. The most important thing is that it’s delicious and you can eat it all year round.

Som Tum is very popular among young ladies that are on a diet. Som Tum is also very popular among the Issan people, and when they move to different region of the country to work, they take Som Tum with them and introduce it to other regions in Thailand, now everyone know and love Som Tum. Som Tum can be very addictive, for some, they might get very cranky if they don’t get to eat it everyday. Darly eats Som Tum almost everyday, I wonder if she gets cranky if she doesn’t get to eat it for a day or a few days. There’s actually a study done on this that women love to eat Som Tum more so than men. Some ladies that are filthy rich still can’t resist eating it because it is so good. High Society or some might call it ‘high so’, that would only eat in fancy restaurant only do it to make them look good, but when no one is looking, they can’t resist eating Som Tum as well.

As for those women that are married to foreigners and currently living in US or other country, Som Tum might not readily be available but if there’s a Thai restaurant close by, they can’t resist driving there to eat. Some would drive as far as 100 miles just to go eat Som Tum, and they all think its well worth the trip. No matter where you live or who you are, once you’ve eaten Som Tum before, you can’t forget the taste; just writing about it makes my mouth water.

What’s sad are those living in area that there’s a shortage of papaya due to cold climate or few Asian living in the area. Most would substitute papaya with something else such as carrots, cabbage, and different types of fruit and vegetable and these Som Tum are delicious to certain degree but nothing can replace papaya Som Tum. Some might get very creative in their substitution, overall, it’s trial and error and what tastes good, we spread the words, and what doesn’t, we curse ourselves.

After it’s all said and done, some Thai and Lao people discover that there’s one type of vegetable that tastes better than papaya when made into Som Tum. Can any of you imagine, what can tastes better than papaya Som Tum? Is there such vegetable? At first I was puzzled, is there such thing in this world that can replace papaya Som Tum. So, I did a little research and found out from those that live in the western region, there is such vegetable. They all claim that it’s crunchy, sweet, and when making into Som Tum, the taste and aroma is incredible, more superb than papaya for sure.

What is this vegetable? They call it Rutabaga; Thai/Lao people call it Ruba for short. Rutabaga is believed to have originated from a hybrid between the turnip and wild cabbage, probably in Bohemia and as recently as the 17th century. Rutabaga is a cool-weather crop and is grown primarily in the northern parts of the United States and Europe, in Great Britain and in Canada. This is what it looks like,

I’ve never tried it myself, but they said that it tastes better than papaya because it’s sweet and crunchy, after eating this, you might not want to go back to eat papaya Som Tum again.

If everyone start to switch to this Ruba vegetable, wouldn’t that worry papaya grower because now they won’t be able to sell their papaya. Not to worry at all because you can only grow this Ruba during the cold weather month (you can in the summer but it would taste very bitter, not good for Som Tum at all) So, try it if you can find one in your local supermarket, it should be in season right now. Seems like we can Tum almost anything, such as string beans, cucumber, different fruits, and vegetables and to add on to our latest find, Ruba that is a great addition to those Som Tum lover.

Seems like Thai/Lao foods are gaining popularity in the western region, we have our famous Lao Cook Team in Spain to thank for introducing our food to that part of the world. Would it be nice if Som Tum would appear in menu of famous restaurant all over the world? You can order NY Steak with Som Tum (instead of salad); just thinking about it makes me hungry. Most people know our food; this is something to be proud.