Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)

Place the garlic and bird's eye chilies in a large Thai clay mortar (krok din). Pound with the pestle until the garlic and chilies are roughly broken — not a smooth paste. You want visible chunks of garlic and chili, the oils released but the texture still coarse and chunky. Reduce or increase the number of chilies according to heat preference: 2 chilies is mild, 5 is Thai-market standard, 8 is Isaan-grandmother level.

Add the long bean pieces to the mortar and pound gently 4 to 5 times to bruise and split them — they should crack and release juice but not turn to mush. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and pound another 3 to 4 times until the tomatoes burst and release their juice into the mortar. Add the dried shrimp and pound once or twice to incorporate. The goal throughout is bruising, not pureeing — you want the vegetables to break open and release their liquid into the dressing, not dissolve.

Add the palm sugar, fish sauce, and lime juice to the mortar. Use the pestle to stir and lightly bruise to dissolve the palm sugar. Taste the dressing with a spoon — it should be aggressively sour from lime, salty from fish sauce, and sweet from palm sugar, with the heat of the chili building at the finish. Adjust the balance now before adding the papaya. The dressing should be slightly more intense than desired in the finished dish, as the papaya will dilute it.

Add the shredded green papaya to the mortar in several handfuls. Use the pestle to lightly pound and the spoon to simultaneously toss — a two-hand technique that bruises the papaya slightly while coating every strand in dressing. Pound lightly 5 to 6 times while turning with the spoon, then taste and adjust seasoning. Add roasted peanuts and toss once more. Serve immediately in the mortar or transfer to a serving plate. Som tum does not keep — the acid wilts the papaya within 30 minutes.