Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)

A simple and healthy Thai salad.

Salad:
1 3-lb green papaya
12 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
2/3 C roasted peanuts, coarsely ground
2/3 C small dried shrimp

Dressing:
10 T fresh lime juice
6 T palm sugar (or light brown sugar)
6 T fish sauce (this will vary some depending on how salty your fish sauce is)
8 cloves garlic, crushed or very finely minced
Thai chiles to taste, finely chopped

At least half an hour before making the salad combine the dressing ingredients to allow the sugar to dissolve and the flavors to blend.

Peel the papaya then shred it (this is most easily done using a julienne peeler); the resulting shreds should then be lightly bruised.  You can do this with a mortar and pestle, or by laying them out and giving them a few hits with a rolling pin.  Toss the papaya shreds in a bowl, then lightly bruise the tomatoes and add to the bowl.

Add the dressing and toss to coat, then sprinkle the peanuts and dried shrimp onto each portion as you serve.

Notes: Traditionally this would also include some cut and bruised long beans as well, but I'm not a giant fan of them un-cooked.