Thailand’s Som Tam voted 6th best salad in the world
Northeast Thailand’s “som tam,” aka spicy papaya salad, was voted sixth best salad in the world by online food guide TasteAtlas. Another Thai dish, phla kung, also won accolades, coming in ninth place.
Sanook pointed out that Thailand’s som tam was ranked higher than Cambodia’s green papaya salad, bok l’hong, voted 30th best salad.
TasteAtlas’s Top 10 Best Rated Salads in the World are…
- Dakos (Crete, Greece)
- Shopska Salad (Bulgaria)
- Mechouia Salad (Tunisia)
- Moravska salata (Serbia)
- Greek Salad (Greece)
- Som Tam (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam)
- Goma wakame (Japan)
- Ovcharska Salad (Bulgaria)
- Phla Kung (Thailand)
- Fattoush (Lebanon)
According to TasteAtlas…
“Som tam is a green papaya salad mostly associated with the northeastern part of Thailand (Isaan), though it is often suggested that it first appeared in Laos. Apart from thin strips of green papaya, this salad usually includes roasted peanuts, green beans, tomatoes, and a tangy sauce typically made with garlic, chilli peppers, fish sauce, dried shrimps, palm sugar, and lime or tamarind juice.”
“The varieties are plentiful and can include various additions. The sauce can also appear in many other combinations, and can significantly vary in sweetness and spiciness. Numerous restaurants and street stalls allow the customers to choose the variety they prefer and adjust the ingredients to their preference.”
The website also described the ninth-best salad in the world, phla kung…
“This hot and sour shrimp salad consists of blanched shrimps combined with chopped lemongrass stalks, shallots, kaffir lime leaves, cilantro, and mint leaves, all covered with a chilli-lime dressing. The spicy shrimp salad is typically placed atop fresh lettuce leaves, and then garnished with fresh mint sprigs.
“There are many variations of this dish, some of which call for other types of seafood or fish instead of shrimps, or even a mix of several seafood types for a more interesting salad.”
Three days ago, TasteAtlas ranked Thailand’s Tom Kha Ghai (coconut chicken soup with galangal) ninth place in a list of the 100 Best Rated Soups in the World.
Despite being one of the nation’s favourites, the website once ranked Kaeng Som (sour fish curry) the 12th worst soup in the world.
The guide ranked Thai milk tea seventh place in their list of 100 Best Rated Non-Alcoholic Beverages in the World.
Last year, the northern Thai dish, Khao Soi, which is a coconut curry noodle soup, was ranked 50th on TasteAtlas’s 100 Best Rated Soups in the World list.
