Kohlrabi Som Tum

THAILAND / LAOS

Som tum is a signature Thai salad (tum som in Laos), normally made by pounding shredded unripe green papaya. Kohlrabi is a fantastic British substitute. This underrated vegetable is crisp when raw, with a clean, mild sweetness that’s very refreshing with the dressing. The lime and fish sauce based dressing consists of dried shrimps, chillies, garlic and tomatoes – all bashed together in a mortar so their flavours release and meld beautifully with one another, creating a powerful combination of sweet, sour, salty, spicy and pungent.

Serves 4

• 2 medium kohlrabi
• 1 handful of green (French) beans
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4–6 red bird’s-eye chillies 
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimps
• 8 sweet ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons light palm sugar, or unrefined light brown sugar
• 1–2 limes
• a handful of fresh coriander, roughly torn
• a handful of toasted peanuts, plus extra to serve

1. Peel the kohlrabi and cut into long fine shreds on a mandolin. Trim the green beans and cut into 5cm lengths.
2. Put the garlic into a mortar and smash with the pestle. Follow with the chillies and dried shrimps, crushing them to release their flavours. Add the green beans and pound them lightly. Add half the cherry tomatoes, and bruise slightly so they release their juices.
3. Add the seasonings – the fish sauce, palm sugar, lime juice. Mash everything against the sides of the bowl. Keep tasting and adjusting. You can do this in advance, but don’t make the actual salad until you are ready to serve, or the vegetables and nuts will go soggy.
4. Finally, toss the shredded kohlrabi, the rest of the tomatoes, the coriander and toasted peanuts in the dressing. You can add them straight to the mortar if you like, but if yours isn’t big enough, combine them separately in a large bowl.
5. Finish by crushing some peanuts over to serve.

Note: If making this without a mortar and pestle, you can make the dressing by finely chopping the garlic and chillies, lightly bruising the dried shrimps and green beans with the back of your knife, and squeezing the tomatoes, before combining it all with the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar.