Regions all over the world have their signature salads. In Italy, it’s an Italian salad, of course. The French have salade Niçoise. When it comes to salad in Southeastern Asia, it’s all about green papaya salad.
It’s Friday night in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Wow. Now I know what it feels like to be a bee in a beehive. We’re on a foodie tour. If I lose sight of our guide… well, let’s not go there!
We’ve tasted steamed rice rolls, sweet donuts, and at our last stop, we had worm pancakes. How do you top worm pancakes? You can’t top worm pancakes. Once you’ve had a worm pancake, everything else is business as usual. But that’s OK!
Green Papaya Salad
At the next stop we’ll tone it down with green papaya salad. Nice and easy. The primary ingredient, green papaya, is just what you’d think – a regular papaya that isn’t ripe yet.
Unripe papaya? Really? That doesn’t sound particularly appetizing. But green papayas have a subtle flavor all their own, and they have a delicate crunch. They’re the perfect base for a light salad.
Green papaya salad is on menus all over Southeast Asia. Thais, Laotians, Cambodians, and Vietnamese each have their own version. In Thailand they call it Som Tum.
There’s a photo of an amped up Cambodian green papaya salad on the cover of the October 2025 issue of Food & Wine magazine. Cambodians call it Bok Lahong. Here in Vietnam, they call green papaya salad Gỏi Đu Đủ.
To make it, the cook peels a football-sized green papaya with a razor-sharp cleaver. Then, holding the papaya in one hand, whacks away, making lots of grooves maybe half an inch deep. Then she slices off the grooved sections to make shredded green papaya.
Enter the Herbs
Vietnamese typically add basil and coriander. Neither of which are like our coriander or basil. Vietnamese basil, like Thai basil, has the flavor of anise with a little spice kick.
Vietnamese coriander is a green plant that tastes a like a combination of cilantro, citrus, and mint, with a peppery finish. Makes you want to taste some, eh? Other add-ins might be shredded carrot or celery.
Toppings like fried shallots or roasted peanuts complete the dish. In Hanoi, they like to top green papaya salad with beef jerky strips. Next comes the dressing…
Nước Chấm
The dressing used for Vietnamese green papaya salad is nước chấm – the dipping sauce that’s on every Vietnamese table. If you’ve been to a Vietnamese restaurant anywhere in the world, you’ve probably tasted nước chấm. And you probably loved it. It’s so good.
I’ve been told that every Vietnamese restaurant, cook, and family has their own recipe for nước chấm. Do they sell it in a bottle? I don’t know. But if they do, I doubt that any Vietnamese person would buy it. Home-made is always best.
To make nước chấm, combine lime juice, sugar, and water. Then add the fish sauce of your choice – there are a lot of ‘em. Add some extras like sliced chilis or garlic. If you get it right, your nước chấm will be sweet, sour, and salty all at the same time, but all in balance.
People make their own nước chấm, but fish sauce is another matter. Fish sauce is mass-produced by packing anchovies and salt into large containers and aging them for a year or so. Then they strain the fermented juice and age again. The result is umami on steroids.
When papaya salad is dressed, you’ve got something that’s light, fresh, and delicious. The one we tried on our foodie tour was no exception.
To be continued…
Beautiful close-up of green papaya salad shown at the top of this post, credit: istockphoto/wing-wing
