Roadside Salad Stand · Shredded Papaya
Thinbaw Thi Thoke
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Cross the border into Thailand and the almost-identical salad is called som tam — Shan State's papaya salad shares a direct culinary lineage with its far more famous Thai cousin.
Shredded green papaya is pounded with dried shrimp, tomato, garlic and chili, dressed with lime and fish sauce, and tossed to order at open-air stands. It's a fixture of Shan State's markets, eaten as a sharp, cooling counterpoint to the region's heavier noodle dishes.
Why it's made this way: Shan State's centuries of trade and migration across its borders with Thailand and Laos gave it a shared papaya-salad tradition with its neighbors, distinct from the milder salads of central Myanmar.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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