Green papaya pounded with bird's eye chili, lime, and fish sauce at Oklahoma City's Ma Der Lao Kitchen, reflecting the Lao community that arrived after 1975.
Lao papaya salad came to OKC when Lao and Hmong refugees resettled after the Vietnam War in the late 1970s and 1980s. The Lao community established restaurants and grocery stores preserving homeland traditions. The salad is a village staple made by pounding unripe green papaya with chili, lime, fish sauce, and tomatoes in a clay mortar for a sour-spicy-salty balance. Chef Jeff Chanchaleune at Ma Der Lao Kitchen in the Plaza District received a James Beard Award nomination for his version, served with sticky rice.
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