The green papaya salad was adapted from an ethnic Lao dish known as tam som (literally "pounding [of] sour [ingredients]"), which used local fruits and vegetables such as green (unripe) mango or cucumbers as the main ingredient, seasoned to a primarily sour flavour. Although green papaya salad is deeply linked to Laos and the Lao ethnic region of Isan, unfortunately, like most dishes in Southeast Asia, its true origins were not recorded. This is mainly because, until recently, more emphasis were placed on the oral tradition than to the written or literary tradition.