Fresh spring rolls make great appetizers, they are originally from Vietnam, but I love them so much that I thought I would teach you how to make my own version. Spring rolls are fun to make, because the whole family can help wrap them like a small assembly line. The keys to excellent spring-rolls are fresh vegetables and some good peanut sauce.
It's traditional to use sliced pork or shrimp in fresh spring rolls, but I like the taste of turkey breast better. You can use whatever meat you desire as long as it's thin. If you're a vegetarian, simply leave out the meat all together!
Thai Papaya Salad or Som Tam is popular throughout Southeast Asia. It's a refreshing, healthy salad that combines sweet, sour, salty, and spicy into one harmonious dish. Making Papaya Salad is more of an art than a science, and you will quickly settle on your own balance of ingredients to make it to your taste. This recipe is designed to be a good starting point to try out first.
Everyone has their own recipe, and word of street vendors who make good Papaya Salad gets around quickly and they build a loyal following, much like pizza places in the west.
Papaya salad has three basic types:
Som Tam Thai, which has roasted peanuts mixed in it. (this recipe)
Som Tam Bu, which has pickled crabs pounded in it.
Som Tam Lao, which has the juice of pickled mud-fish in it.
My personal favorite Papaya Salad is Som Tam Lao and Som Tam Thai. My mom likes Som Tam Lao and she's from Issan (North East Thailand) and my dad likes Som Tam Thai, he's from from Central Thailand so I got to eat and make both kinds growing up. Pickled mud-fish is definately an acquired taste, so we've decided to present the peanut version instead.
Papaya Salad really needs to be prepared using a mortar and pestle. When I was a little girl, my mom told me if I broke the mortar while making Papaya Salad, I have to dance around the outside of the house as punishment, so be careful because Americans have big houses.
Spring rolls are a very popular appetizer, you can find them all around Asia. They are slightly different in each country. Thai spring rolls sometimes add ground pork, Chinese egg rolls have bamboo shoots in them, while the Vietnamese have fresh spring rolls. They're kind of addictive, when you start to eat them it's hard to stop. Your friends will ask you to make them again and again. A great appetizer for lunch or dinner, you can find them in fine dining establishments all around Thailand. Sometimes you can find at the street venders in the city, but rarely up country or in small villages.
Appetizer
