Green Papaya Salad (Thai Som Tum)

At Seattle's Little Uncle, chefs Poncharee Kounpungchart and Wiley Frank dehydrate Oregon bay shrimp and crush them into a green papaya salad, where the crustaceans amp up the umami flavour.

10 dried shrimp
2 small red Thai chiles, stemmed
1 clove garlic, peeled
¼ cup tamarind juice
1 Tbsp. palm sugar, grated
1 Tbsp. Thai fish sauce
1 lime, cut into 1" pieces
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
3 long beans or 6 regular green beans, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
1 carrot, coarsely shredded
½ English cucumber, seeded and coarsely shredded
1⁄6 small green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1 lb unripe green papaya, peeled, quartered, seeded and finely shredded using a mandoline (about 2 cups)
3 Tbsp. unsalted peanuts, roasted

Using a mortar and pestle, crush shrimp, chiles, and garlic. Add tamarind juice, palm sugar, and fish sauce. Squeeze three-quarters of lime pieces over the top and drop into mortar; grind to make a rough dressing. Add remaining ingredients, except peanuts, adding papaya last. Use pestle and a spoon to grind and mix salad until vegetables and fruit are bruised and coated in dressing.

Transfer to a serving dish; garnish with remaining lime pieces and peanuts.

Makes 6 servings.