Posted on 12th Jul 2025

Papaya Salad with Vermicelli Noodles

The perfect recipe for a lovely warm day (or any day, for that matter!). This wonderfully spicy, tangy and refreshing salad will be sure to keep you coming back for more and more!

Cuisine

Thai

Time

15min

Servings

4 people people

Ingredients

1 small handful cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
100g bean sprouts, washed and picked
2 thick rice vermicelli (sen khao poon)
2 tbsp dried prawns
Small handful coriander, leaves picked off the stalk, (optional for garnish)

Sauce

2 tbsp lime juice, approximately ½ lime
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2-3 bird eye chillies, finely chopped
2 tbsp palm sugar
2 tbsp fermented fish sauce
2 tbsp tamarind concentrate

Method

PREPARATION

COOKING

Soak the vermicelli noodles in hot water for 3 minutes until they have separated. Drain them and leave to dry on a clean tea towel for 10 minutes.

With a knife or vegetable peeler, peel the papaya and julienne, or slice into thin matchsticks. Use a julienne peeler, if available. Place into a salad bowl. Halve the cherry tomatoes, add the dried prawns into the same salad bowl alongside the beansprouts. Roughly chop the peanuts and reserve for garnish.

For the sauce, finely chop the garlic and bird's eye chillies. In a separate small bowl mix together the lime juice, garlic, chilli, palm sugar, fish sauce, and tamarind paste. The sauce should be a perfect balance of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy. Add more of any ingredient from the ‘sauce’ list to suit your taste.

Stir the dressing and the salad ingredients together. Garnish with roasted peanuts and coriander.