Green papaya salad (som tam), part 2

Add the roughly chopped palm sugar to the mortar (with the paste already pounded) and break it up.

Add the lime juice to help dissolve the sugar, then the fish sauce; swoosh around rather than pounding hard.

Trim the long beans, cut to length, add and crush just a little so the dressing gets inside them.

Add the halved grape tomatoes and bruise very gently so their juices join the dressing.

Put the papaya in a salad bowl, pour the dressing over, scraping everything in, and toss.

Crush raw peanuts in the mortar just until the halves split, toast in a dry saute pan on the stovetop, and add about a quarter cup to the salad, saving a little for garnish.

Dish up with plenty of dressing and garnish with the reserved peanuts.

To serve with sticky rice: soak the rice in water about four hours, ideally overnight, drain, and steam in cheesecloth for 15 to 20 minutes.