SNACKS - Pickled Papaya

By Aemelia

Ingredients

• 1 kg firm papaya (clean weight w/o skin and seeds)
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 300 gm rice wine vinegar (if sub with imitation vinegar[cuka buatan], use 70-80% artificial vinegar 20-30% water)
• 300 gm sugar
• 10 bird's eye chilli

Details

Servings 5
Adapted from wendyinkk.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Boil vinegar and sugar. Stir so that sugar will not set to bottom. Let it cool down completely before use.
2. Peel papaya. Half the fruit, remove seeds and rinse the fruit.
3. Cut into smaller pieces and slice with a mandolin.
4. Put salt over sliced papayas and rub salt all over papaya slices. Make sure the slices do not stick together and are properly rubbed with salt.
5. Leave salted papaya for 5 minutes (not too long!!), the papaya is ready to be rinsed when it looks pliable.
6. Rinse salted papaya twice. Shake off excess water. No need to squeeze.
7. Put papaya slices into a non reactive vessel (glass, stainless steel, ceramic)
8. Snip bird's eye chilli in and pour cooled vinegar syrup over.
9. With clean utensils, stir papaya slices to make sure the payaya is well submerged and coated with the syrup.
10. Let the papayas sit for a few hours, then test. If too sour, add more sugar, if not sour enough, add more vinegar.
11.Let the papayas pickle for at least 2 days before serving. If container is air tight, there is no need for refrigeration. If the container is not air tight, it is best to kept chilled in the fridge to prevent creepy crawlies.

Note:
In the pictures, you saw 2 papayas. But in the end, only one papaya is used as the redder one is too ripe to be used. Although a bit too firm to be eaten, it is too soft to be pickled. If the papaya can be dented with a finger (with pressure, press!!!!!!!) then the papaya is too soft. It may not look soft now, but after pickling, you will regret it. If you're not sure about your papaya, it's best to separate the pickles according to fruit. Just in case one fruit turns soft after pickling, it won't spoil the whole batch. It's yucky to eat soft pickled papayas. Sometimes, red papayas(red flesh, green skin) do not mean that they are too ripe to be used. Test the inside of the papaya(near the seeds) with the pressure test. Some papayas may look red, but are still firm and crunchy.