Vietnamese green papaya salad comes in two guises and one of them features earthy beef jerky and heady Thai basil (hung que). The other version of green papaya salad is southern Viet and has shrimp, pork and rau ram herb; the recipe is in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. A northern Viet favorite, green papaya salad made with beef jerky includes slivers of smoked liver and on occasion, lung too. In Hanoi's Old Quarter, I recall a little street full of green papaya salad vendors. I’ve never had the lung in salads in the U.S. Both the jerky and liver are a tad chewy, the liver adding a slight minerally quality to the salad. It’s no great shakes. If you lived in Little Saigon, you’d go to the Vietnamese-Chinese jerky store for the beef and the liver. Or you make beef jerky at home, like I did last week. In my kitchen, I omit the liver and the salad is just fine.
To dress Vietnamese green papaya salad, you have two options. One is a fish sauce and lime dressing. The other features soy sauce and vinegar. The former yields a salad that is lighter in taste and appearance that the latter. At places like the Asian Garden Mall food court in Orange County’s Little Saigon, it’s common to see the soy dressing. If you watched the movie, Scent of Green Papaya, the dressing is the fish sauce one. Regardless of your dressing, you can serve the salad pre-dressed or with the dressing on the side. Because the soy dressing turns the pale celadon green papaya a sad brown color, I like to let guests dress their own salad. The recipe below employs the soy sauce dressing.
Vietnamese Green Papaya Salad with Beef Jerky
Goi Du Du Bo Kho
An important part of this salad is to have the papaya crunchy, and Viet cooks can soak the shredded papaya in a slaked lime-and-water solution. I prefer the old fashioned method of squeezing on the shreds, which renders the papaya dryish so that once the dressing is poured on, the papaya soaks up all the flavors like a sponge. See tips for buying and using green papaya if you're not familiar with the Southeast Asian ingredient.
Serves 4 to 6
Dressing:
2 tablespoons regular (light) soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons Sriracha hot chili sauce, or 1 or 2 Thai or serrano chiles, finely chopped
1 green papaya, about 2 pounds
1 teaspoon sugar
2 ½ teaspoons salt
4 ounces homemade Vietnamese beef jerky or Asian-style beef jerky, cut into strips with scissors to match papaya pieces (about 1 cup total)
¼ cup shredded fresh Thai basil leaves
1. To make either dress dressing, in a small bowl, stir together all of the ingredients, stirring until the sugar dissolves. If guests are chile heat sensitive, leave the Sriracha out and serve some on the side. Set the dressing aside to develop the flavors.
2. Peel the papaya with a vegetable peeler and then cut off the stem. Halve the papaya lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out and discard the seeds. Cut each half lengthwise into quarters, and then use a knife (or grapefruit knife or melon baller) to remove the thin white layer lining the cavity. Using a Japanese Benriner slicer or a food processor fitted with the largest shredder blade, shred the papaya pieces. Aim for thin strands about 1/16 inch thick, no more than 3/16 inch wide, and 2 ½ to 3 inches long (about the size of the shredded mozzarella you put on a pizza).
3. Put the shredded papaya in a colander, add the sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons of the salt, and use both hands to massage the sugar and salt vigorously into the papaya. After a few minutes, the papaya will be a little slimy and limp yet still firm. At that point, rinse it under lots of cold running water to remove the salt and sugar.
4. Working in batches, wring out excess moisture from the papaya in a nonterry dish towel: position a mound of the papaya in the center, roll it up in the towel, and then twist the ends in opposite directions to force out the liquid. Do this 3 or 4 times. You want to extract enough water from the papaya yet not completely crush it. Transfer the papaya to a large bowl and fluff it up to release it from its cramped state.
5. Just before serving, add the beef jerky and Thai basil to the green papaya and toss to distribute evenly. At home, I normally pour on about ¾ of the dressing, toss and taste, adding more dressing as needed. Or, serve the dressing on the side and invite guests to dress their own salad.
Additional information:
Rosa says
That looks so good and refreshing! I love green papaya!
Cheers,
Rosa
thuy says
I have to try this. I have only tried the Laos and Thai version but never had the Vietnamese version of the papaya salad. I wonder how they would compare to each other.
Binh says
I was craving this after Andrea wrote the jerky post, and I had some pork liver intended for pate so I tried making the liver often used in this dish back home.
Same recipe for marinade, same thickness--I didn't think about the pineapple juice so I used a pear puree instead. The goal is to make the marinade a bit thicker.
I fried the liver quickly in a tiny bit of oil with some garlic, then pour the marinade in, then finish it up under the broiler to really thicken down the sauce and charred the liver a bit. I don't remember how much time--I watched it intensely so I don't end up burning the sauce, probably within 5 minutes. The liver turned out pretty tasty -- chewy and sticky.
My aunt told me they use beef liver in Vietnam. Will try that next time.
Binh says
Er...forgot to mention I still had to marinate the liver slices for a couple of hours.
Andrea Nguyen says
Thuy, Vietnamese green papaya salad is not as gutsy/earthy as the Lao or Issan Thai version. No salty fermented crab or long beans (green beans), and definitely not as screaming hot either. Compared to the average Thai som tum green papaya salad, there's no tangy cherry tomato. The Viet salad is not lightweight, it's just a different animal.
Binh, Thanks SO much for the tip for livery goodness. I'm going to try that out. I like calf's liver more than regular full-grown beef liver as the former is more delicately flavored.
thuy says
I have made the dressing with a mixture of soy & fish sauce & it worked a treat. Thanks for the dry beef recipe, I have been looking for ages for this recipe.
jai says
Andrea,
What's the basic difference between regular beef
jerky and Vietnamese beef jerky? I'm a big fan
of your website. It not only provides delicious
recipes but, gives us insight into southeast asian
culture. Can I find Jerky in the Dallas/Ft. Worth
area?
Mangia,
Jai
Andrea Nguyen says
Thuy -- nice idea for blending of fish sauce and soy sauce! Give the soy depth!
Jai -- Thanks for the compliments. Vietnamese beef jerky gets flavored by fish sauce, lemongrass, and chile. In the Dallas area, you'd find Vietnamese jerky at a Vietnamese market. Go to a Chinese market and the Chinese jerky may have some fish sauce and chile, but no lemongrass. But as my dad points out above, the jerky can be flavored with ginger too. If you were to sub a 'teriyaki' flavored jerky -- something you like from a mainstream supermarket -- that would work too!
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Jerry says
this is best with boiled pig ears cut in stripes in place of beef jerky
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marlon says
Thanks for the dry beef recipe, I have been looking for ages for this recipe.