Tom Sum, or Green Papaya Salad

This tangy salad made with shredded unripe papaya is served throughout Southeast Asia. In the 1990s there was an award-winning French-Vietnamese film called The Scent of Green Papaya; by then, the dish was known the world over. There are dozens of variations. Nok’s version included carrots, tomato, garlic, hot chilies, a yard-long bean (cut into pieces), limes, palm sugar, prawns (per my request), fish sauce, and roasted nuts. She assured me that “you can make it with any fruit—apple