Green papaya salad

This is a refreshing salad that has all the elements of the far east thrown in . It has heat, sweet and sour and every thing so fresh as well.

For your papaya salad you will need

1 green papaya, peeled, shredded
2 tomatoes, diced
Handful green beans, blanched, refreshed in cold water
2 carrots, peeled, julienned
Small bunch fresh basil leaves
Small bunch coriander leaves
½ iceberg lettuce, shredded
2 garlic cloves
2.5cm/1in piece fresh ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
2 red birds’-eye chillies, seeds removed
60g/2¼oz palm sugar, crushed
2 limes, juice only
100ml/3½fl oz soy sauce
Dash of roasted sesame oil

Now stat by making you dressing. Get your garlic chillies and ginger and start to pound that all together. Add the palm sugar to help grind and break things up , if you can not get palm sugar use some Demerara sugar. Add the limejuice and the oil and finish with the soy sauce, what you should have is a strong aromatic dressing. Let this stand for a while. If you have time do it the day before and chill over night in the fridge.

As for your salad add the ingredients in to a big bowl, then dress them and toss them all together. And that is that .

This salad is perfect summer salad that just goes well with all sorts of dishes. If you do not like dressing so hot, do not put as much chilli in it.