Kinilaw nga Kapayas (Papaya in Vinegar)

Kinilaw or kilawin means raw food marinated in vinegar. This dish is not really kilawin per se but vinegar is added to semi-ripe or under-ripe papaya to add flavor. This is a common dish in the Visayan region of the Philippines. It can serve as an appetizer or an afternoon snack, which ever you prefer. Under-ripe or semi-ripe papaya has not fully ripen so the taste is slightly bland or just slightly sweet. The addition of vinegar and salt gives it a nice flavor but I recommend not to leave the papaya in vinegar too long because it will lose its crispness as well as become too sour to eat.

Ingredients:

1 under-ripe or semi-ripe papaya, seeded and peeled then sliced
1/2 cup vinegar
salt, according to taste

1. Combine everything together in a bowl and serve.

Tinolang Manok (Chicken with Papaya and Ginger)

Tinolang manok is a common Filipino dish that can be found in a lot of different islands of the Philippines. It is a soup mad up of chicken, green (unripe) papaya, pepper leaves, and ginger. Green or unripe papaya are available at most of the Asian markets. If green papaya is not available, you can substitute it with chayote which is readily available at the regular supermarket. You can also substiture pepper leaves with malunggay leaves. Both are usually available at the Filipino market in the freezer section. You can just thaw them out and add to the dish or do like I do, add it frozen while cooking the soup and let the heat thaw it out.

This is another dish that is appropriate for fall or winter because it will help warm you up. It is also healthy and nutritious as well as delicious. Filipinos usually eat this warm with piping hot bowl of rice...yummy...Leftovers, if any, can be stored in the refrigerator and heated on the stove or microwave.

Ingredients:

2 - 3 lbs chicken, cut into serving pieces
1 small unripe (green) papaya or 2 chayote, peeled and seeded then sliced.
2 inch ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 package frozen pepper leaves
3 Thai chillies, whole
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp fish sauce
oil

1. Heat pan over medium heat then add oil.
2. Add ginger, garlic, and onion. Saute until translucent and fragrant
3. Add chicken and saute until brown.
4. Add enough water to cover the chicken then simmer until chicken is tender.
5. Add papaya slices and continue to cook until tender.
6. Add Thai chili and frozen pepper leaves and simmer until thawed or 2-3 minutes if already thawed.
7. Season with fish sauce, salt, and pepper then remove from heat.
8. Transfer to a serving dish and serve warm.

Papaya- Asian Pear Smoothie

I have a ripe papaya and asian pear which I got from the Korean market and they look really yummy but I didn't feel like munching on so them so I turned them into smoothie which is an easier way for me to get my daily fruit requirements. They are so easy to make and involves just a few steps but they are packed with nutrients and are so good.


Asian pears are basically the same as their counterparts which are sold at the regular American store except that they are shaped like an apple They are naturally sweet and juicy. Papaya, on the other hand, are abundant in Asia as well as South America. They can be consumed raw or used in dishes. They can also be eaten unripe or ripe depending on the dish. In most some asian cuisines such as that of Vietnam and Thailand, unripe papayas are served as salads. In the Philippines, they are used in dishes such as tinolang manok (chicken soup with papaya) and achara (pickled papaya).


Ingredients:

1 small (about 1 lb) papaya
1 Asian pear
sugar, according to taste
ice cubes

1. Peel papaya. Remove seeds using spoon and then cut into chunks.
2. Core and peel Asian pear and cut into chunks
2. Place Papaya and Asian Pear in blender. Add sugar according to desired sweetness.
3. Puree fruits and sugar until smooth.
4. Add ice cubes and about 30 to 60 cc water and blend until smooth. NOTE: the proportion of pureed fruit to ice cubes should be 1 cup of ice cubes for every cup of pureed fruit mixture or you can adjust it according to your taste.
5. Transfer to tall glasses and serve immediately

Green Papaya Salad with Beef Jerky (Goi Du Du Bo Kho)

I remember eating a Vietnamese salad a while back and it tasted really good so I wanted to recreate it at home. I adapted this recipe from Viet World Kitchen but I modified it a little bit.

Papaya trees are abundant in the Philippines and usually used in several dishes such as atchara (pickles) or in a chicken stew. It can also be eaten raw both in its unripe or ripen stages. Unripe or underripe papaya can just be sliced and eaten with salt and vinegar while ripe papaya can be eaten by itself or grated then mixed with sugar and milk. Anyway you want to eat your papaya is fine as long as you add something to it. Eating papaya by itself can be a little bland unless it really ripe. There are varieties in the Philippines that are sweet when ripe and others that remains bland even when they are fully ripe. To me, the here is nothing compared to those foundin the Philippines but it could just be me and my preference :)

Anyways, this Vietnamese papaya salad is quite tasty thanks to the dressing which is a combination of sweet and spicy. I do think it is better to serve the dressing on the side so that each person can adjust it according to preference rather than dumping all the dressing on the entire salad. Plus, it makes it looks nicer too to serve the dressing and salad separately. I am not really a huge fan of the color of the dark soy because it looks too dark (to me) and makes the salad look unappetizing.

Dressing:
3 tablespoons regular (light) soy sauce
1 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoons sugar
1 or 2 Thai chillies, finely chopped (you can remove the seed if you prefer it less spicy)

Combine all ingredients and mix until sugar is dissolve. Set aside.

2 cups unripe papaya, peeled then julienned
1 teaspoons salt
4 ounces Asian-style beef jerky, julienned
a handful of basil,sliced thinly


1. Peel papaya, remove and discard seeds then julienne using a mandoline slicer. NOTE: Be careful not to cut your fingers.

2. Place papaya in a bowl then add salt. Let it stand for 15 minutes then squeeze as much of the fluid out. You can either do it by hand or use a cheese cloth to wring the fluids out. Discard any liquid.

3. Transfer to a clean bowl then fluff to loosen.

4. Add beef jerky and basil and toss lightly. Serve with dressing on the side.

Papaya atchara (Green Papaya Pickle)

INGR:

2 cups grated green papaya

1 inch ginger , slice thinly

1 bell pepper, slice thinly

1 onion, chopped finely

3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

1/2 carrot, sliced thinly

1/2 cup pineapple tidbits

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

salt to taste

1 small ampalaya (bitter melon), thinly sliced

NOTE: I used a mandolin slicer to grate the papaya

1. Place grated papaya in a bowl, add about 1-2 tsp of salt and let it stand for 15 mins.Squeeze dry either by hand or using a cheese cloth

2. mix vinegar, sugar, ginger, garlic, onion.put in stove and let it boil.

3.in a separate bowl, mix papaya, bell pepper, carrots, ampalaya, and pineapple.

4. pour vinegar mixture on papaya. let it cool and then put on jar and seal thightly.

5. chill, if desired.

edit:
Originally posted on 02/21/10 at 1031 pm