Tam Taeng (ตำแตง) – Thai Cucumber Salad, Som Tam Style

Tam taeng follows the principle of som tam. Instead of green papaya, you pound cucumber in the mortar. First you crush garlic and chilies, then you bruise the beans and tomatoes and stir palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice into a dressing. The cucumber goes in last. You only hit it a few times so it stays crunchy.

By Laura Chen · November 4, 2026

15 Mintotal

2servings

170kcal

ThaiCuisine ›

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One slicing cucumber is enough for the salad. In Thailand, cooks use small, firm cucumbers with few seeds. Cut your cucumber in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and shave it into long strips. Without seeds it releases less water and the dressing stays strong. You control the heat with the number of chilies. Two give you a medium-hot salad. Eat it right away, because after half an hour the cucumber swims in its own juice.

You can find the original with green papaya under Som Tam and the version with peanuts under Som Tam Thai. A cucumber salad with gochugaru and sesame is the Korean cucumber salad.

Image: AI-generated.

Tam Taeng (ตำแตง) – Thai Cucumber Salad, Som Tam Style

Name: Tam Taeng (ตำแตง) – Thai Cucumber Salad, Som Tam Style
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 1 slicing cucumber (400 g); 2 cloves garlic; 2 red Thai chilies; 50 g yardlong beans or green beans, in 3 cm pieces; 100 g cherry tomatoes, halved; 1 tbsp palm sugar (15 g), chopped; 2 tbsp fish sauce; 2 tbsp lime juice; 1 tbsp dried shrimp (8 g); 2 tbsp roasted peanuts (25 g), coarsely chopped

Laura Chen

Servings

Prep time

15 minutes

Cook time

0 minutes

Calories

170

Cuisine

Thai

Ingredients

1 slicing cucumber (400 g)
2 cloves garlic
2 red Thai chilies
50 g yardlong beans or green beans, in 3 cm pieces
100 g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp palm sugar (15 g), chopped
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp dried shrimp (8 g)
2 tbsp roasted peanuts (25 g), coarsely chopped

Instructions

Halve the cucumber lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with a spoon and shave it into long strips with a vegetable peeler.
Pound the garlic and chilies in a mortar into a coarse paste.
Add the beans and bruise them with 5 to 6 strikes.
Add the palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice and stir with the pestle until the sugar dissolves.
Add the tomatoes and dried shrimp and press the tomatoes lightly so they release their juice.
Fold in the cucumber, strike it 3 to 4 times with the pestle and turn everything with a spoon.
Adjust with fish sauce or lime, plate the salad and scatter the peanuts over it.

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Tam Taeng (ตำแตง) – Thai Cucumber Salad, Som Tam Style

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Tam Taeng (ตำแตง) – Thai Cucumber Salad, Som Tam Style

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