Som Tum Thai

Where it comes from

The papaya is not native to Thailand: Iberian traders carried it from the Americas in the 1600s, and by 1693 it was growing across Siam. Lao and Isaan cooks folded the crisp green fruit into their far older pounded-salad tradition, and tam mak hoong was born. It conquered Bangkok only in the mid-1900s, arriving with Isaan workers and sold outside boxing stadiums before sweeping the country. Som tum Thai is the capital's cut — dried shrimp, peanuts, a touch sweeter, the fire intact.