For those who have been to Thailand probably well aware that there are so many variations of Som Tam, spicy Thai green papaya salad with mortar. There are some that made with entirely out of fruit (ส้มตำผลไม้), with fermented rice noodles (ตำซั่ว) or with fresh vegetables e.g carrot, cucumber . Also there are some flavored with dried shrimp (ตำไทย), fermented pungent water fish (ปลาร้า), salted egg or pickled fresh water crab (ปูเค็ม).
Spicy cucumber salad with a mortar, Tam Taeng, the recipe I am going to share with you is the variation that made with fresh cucumber, which I like it even more than the traditional green papaya salad. You may notice that I used fresh lovely Japanese cucumber for this recipe. It's simply because Thai cucumber are not available here in Tokyo and it works beautifully. So if you can't find Thai cucumber, feel free to substitute with vegetables that are crisp with mild and clean flavored, not prone to oxidation and can hold their shape well.
