Papayas are a tropical fruit that you’ve probably seen in the grocery store but never purchased. She adds that they're working on cracking the secret to sweetness in papaya. Watch the papayas carefully so you will know when a papaya … Here are a few other ways to enjoy papaya: Hey there! Once your papayas are ripe, they only last about three days when kept at room temperature. Eaten both green and at peak perfection, a papaya's ripeness helps you decide the best way to help it reach its full, tasty potential. Cut in half and remove seeds. If you wait too long, the fruit will begin to get overripe and mushy, and the flesh will be bland-tasting and mealy. Papayas are a healthy, delicious way to add spark and a nutritional boost to all sorts of menus and recipes. This is a hassle many people can relate to. If you store them at about 50°F (10°C), theyll keep for about 8 days, or you can store them in the refrigerator. What does it taste like? Freeze papaya. 1. “We’re unraveling the sweetness pathway using traditional breeding and advanced molecular gene selection, and this knowledge [can] then be applied to other crops,” Dr. Rebecca Ford, a researcher at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, said. Cookbook author and Asian cooking expert Andrea Nguyen recommends looking for green papayas in Asian market produce sections. This is also due to the ethylene released by the other fruits. Papayas are the most delicious straight from the source. Not all of us are lucky enough to live where papayas grow on trees, but if you do, take advantage! So this is one of the least efficient ways to tell whether or not a papaya is ripe. We are compensated for referring traffic. If ripe, they’re best within a day or two, but they will last in the refrigerator for up to a week. Slice the papaya and space them out on a baking sheet. Whether you're lucky enough to be near a tree that's dropping ripe papayas or you need to plan a few days ahead, you can tell if a papaya is at peak perfection by checking for three indicators: Color: About 80 percent of the fruit should be golden when a papaya is ripe. If you have too much papaya to eat before it goes bad, you can freeze slices of it and enjoy it in smoothies later. I'm Kim. There are four easy things to look for that will help you choose an absolutely perfect papaya. When your papayas are ripe, theyll be fully yellow or red, depending on the variety, and soft to the touch. However, if you’re someone who gets a little impatient, there are a few different ways to ripen up your papaya much faster. How do you pick a papaya that’s perfectly ripe? They’re often used in Asian and Caribbean cuisines, so you may have tried it even if you didn’t know it! Trying to find a papaya that is perfectly ripe can be a little challenging sometimes. You won’t know this until you slice and open it up. Papaya plants, although as tall as many trees, are not technically trees. Green papayas are still edible, but the texture will be crunchy instead of smooth. Copyright © 2020 InsanelyGoodRecipes.com - Quick & Easy Recipes The more the merrier if you’ve got a super green papaya. Shocking revelations aside, this spiky snack is surprisingly easy to tell when ripe. Papaya seeds can be dried and used as a Black Pepper replacement or in delectable salad dressings. It must be orange that can be sometimes a combination of red and pink. Like melons, papaya is great wrapped in prosciutto to go with a cheese board or as a solo, yet delightful appetizer. When it’s almost fully yellow and a little soft to the touch, your papaya is ready to eat. They are bitter and sharp and are often compared to mustard or wasabi. Your best bet is to use them as soon as possible after theyre ripe. It will melt in your mouth with a mild but sweet flavor, similar to a cantaloupe. Berkeley Wellness: Papaya Recipe Ideas and Cooking Tips, The Guardian: How to make the perfect son tam, Cook's Illustrated: The Difference Between Green and Orange Papays, FreshFruitNation: University gives papayas a taste makeover, Viet World Kitchen: Tips for Buying and Using Green Papaya, A Web Experience brought to you by LEAFtv. Rotate them occasionally. Until science catches up, shoppers and cooks have to rely on their senses and know-how to find the sweetest, best papayas. When Do You Know A Papaya Is Ripe? If papayas aren’t currently in season, or you only ever see green ones at your local store, don’t worry. Whether you're lucky enough to be near a tree that's dropping ripe papayas or you need to plan a few days ahead, you can tell if a papaya is at peak perfection by checking for three indicators: Once you have a ripe papaya, you can slice it and eat it plain, toss it in a salad, whip it up in a salsa, or put it in the refrigerator to slow down the ripening process and keep it ready a while longer. Insanely Good Recipes is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Papaya is a rather delicate fruit with a thin skin. Papayas are not as sweet as other tropical fruits like mangoes or pineapples. You can eat and enjoy a juicy, ripe papaya fresh, or use it in smoothies, salsas, or salads. Adding a banana, apple, or avocado to the bag may help speed up the ripening process. Although they don't have a lot of flavor on their own, green papaya is the perfect pairing for bold flavors, particularly in popular, Thai-inspired green papaya som tam salad recipes. If the skin color is turning from green to yellow, you know that the papaya in question is ripening. You’ll want to cut the papaya in half lengthwise and scoop out the sides. Lay them on a flat surface to avoid bruising. But the seeds are anything but sweet. Secondly, the papaya should not be too hard, but firm enough to yield to pressure.