1 small green papaya*, peeled
200g (7 oz) cooked small prawns, peeled, deveined
¼ cup mint leaves
¼ cup Vietnamese mint leaves*
¼ cup Thai basil leaves, plus extra to serve
2 tbsp roasted peanuts, finely chopped
2 tbsp fried shallots
1 long red chilli, finely chopped
Nuoc cham dressing:
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
1 long red chilli, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
For the nuoc cham dressing, whisk together the ingredients and set aside until ready to serve.
Use a julienne peeler or knife (watch the video for my safety tips!) to shred the green papaya into fine shards. In a large bowl, toss the papaya, prawns, mint leaves, basil and half the roast peanuts with three-quarters of the dressing.
Transfer to a serving plate and top with the fried shallots and extra herbs.
Drizzle over extra dressing if needed.
Notes:
– Green papaya is simply unripe papaya. Search it out at your local Asian grocery store. It needs to be firm and sound hollow when you tap on it.
– Vietnamese mint has a more medicinal kind of flavour than regular mint. It’s great if you can find it, but otherwise just add more regular mint and basil.
