The Glade 4.0

Not really sure what to call this, but it came out pretty well. We have, in our backyard, 6 papaya trees, three of which have been fruiting for the past year. But, they never ripen, and I've heard that that's a common thing in California. So I have a bunch of green papayas that I don't know what to do with, apart from Thai green papaya salad.

Found a recipe for kilawen on a Filipino page, and adapted it:

Simmer over medium heat, in 2 tbsp peanut oil:
...1/2 medium sized onion
...3-4 slices fresh ginger, or 1/2 tsp ground
...1 clove fresh garlic, minced

until onion starts to turn translucent. Add
...2-3 small green papayas, deseeded, skinned, and chopped into 1/4" chunks
...2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
...1 small bay leaf
...Salt and pepper to taste (perhaps 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper)

Saute, stirring over medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until onions brown. Arrange mixture flat in pan, and lay on top 8-12 oz white flakey fish of your choice (I had pollock on hand, it worked). Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and steam until fish is cooked through.

Serve over rice.

I really just randomly threw stuff in, but this is my best estimate! You could definitely throw in some green peppers for kick, but I was cooking for my kids and mom.

So, if you run into some green papayas (Sacramento?!) and don't know what to do with them, here ya go.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

That sounds pretty tasty. Now to figure out where to get green papayas...

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Thanks! I wonder if you could just pick the least-ripe ones at a supermarket. You're in a major-ish (!) metro area, right? Must have a Thai or Asian foods market somewhere. Maybe even a Whole Foods might have them? Ya know, I'll bet you could grow a tree or two in AZ, if you accept that they'll just never get ripe.

We're having friends over this weekend for dinner, and I had an inspiration. I received a meatball griller for Christmas, and by chance picked up some ground pork yesterday that we ended up not using. So, I'm thinking grilled green papaya and pork meatballs, using the same seasonings as the fish recipe, and maybe a sauce over the top.

Of course, you can find anything on the Internet, and I'm not the first to think of this. So it looks do-able. But I'm thinking a coconut-milk glaze of some sort ... or maybe make a ton of meatballs and have two dipping sauces.

Anyway, more thinking out loud. I may make these tonight for the family and see how they turn out:

1 pound ground pork (might throw in some beef, maybe a 1/2 pound)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1/2" or so of ginger, minced
1/2 cup of grated green papaya
(This page has a great video on making a shrimp and pork green papaya salad, and demonstrates how to shred or grate it.)

Now, I think if I just mix all these ingredients together and grill them up, it could work. For more adventurous taste buds than my kids (son) and mom, I might throw in some paprika or peppers ... I also wonder if some rice wine vinegar and sugar, or just chinese cooking wine would help. Will have to see as I mix it all up.

A Filipino friend of ours last weekend said that her grandma used shredded green papayas like pasta. Interesting idea. What's also interesting is that the Vietnamese guy in the link above just shredded it and ate it, yet another recipe (from Brazil) calls for soaking the papaya first in water with baking soda, then rinsing a couple of times.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

OK, those didn't work well at all. For one thing, I put in too much papaya; just pulled one off the tree, and ended up with a cup of it, so figured I'd give it a shot. I also think that recipes that don't call for rinsing and soaking it, etc., are using a different type (large and oblong, rather than my pear-shaped ones).

Plus, they weren't very moist. I didn't throw in the ground beef, so maybe that would help to add a bit of fat. Either that, or saute the ginger/garlic/onion in peanut/sesame oil first ... ?

But, yeah, these need some work. Not suitable yet for guests.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

Aethien: http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Category: ... ya_Recipes

_________________
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Hey, you're back! Welcome! Thanks for the link, looks like some good stuff there - might have to try the Baked Papaya with Meat Filling. If I do, I'll report back with results.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge