Papaya is a tropical fruit with orange, sweet flesh, and edible seeds that taste peppery. It can often be found in Asian, Thai, Caribbean, and Indian cuisines, both raw and cooked.
Papayas come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. For example, the Hawaiian variety is smaller and pear-shaped, while the Caribbean and Asian papaya are large. However, they are all delicious and full of vitamin C, antioxidants, and other nutrients.
Besides being found in a variety of different cuisines due to its wonderful flavor, papaya is especially wonderful for anyone with a sensitive stomach, irritable bowel syndrome, or poor digestion.
How To Cut And Eat A Papaya
So, with all these great aspects, you might be wondering how you even prepare it. Below, we’ll go over everything from choosing the ripest papaya to how to slice and dice it.
Choose a ripe papaya
You know if you have a ripe papaya if it has a skin that turns from green to yellow. If the papaya is ripe, you should be able to press your thumb into the pulp. Papaya ripens faster when placed in a paper bag with ethylene-producing fruits such as apples or bananas.
Cut the papaya in half
Lay the papaya on a cutting board. With a large sharp knife, cut the papaya in half lengthwise. Open a papaya half and cut it in half.
Scoop out the seeds with a spoon
Scoop out the seeds with a large spoon. Try not to cut too deep with a spoon or you may lose quite a bit of the fruit, especially if it’s overripe.
Also, no need to throw seeds. While most people throw them away, papaya seeds are not only edible, but small amounts of them in your diet can be good for you. Although they are not sweet. Quite the opposite. They have a strong flavor that is more like a cross between mustard and black pepper.
You can enjoy papaya fruits by digging into them with a spoon. Or create papaya “melon balls” with a melon ball scoop or ice cream scoop.
There are many ways to cut, serve and cook papaya. To peel the papaya, hold the fruit upright and run a knife down along the skin in long slices. Again, try not to cut too deep or you will lose a lot of fruit.
If you are uncomfortable using a knife, use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin. Alternatively, you can cut the papaya into slices and use a knife to scrape the skin.
Summary
How to cut and eat papaya is an important part of the papaya experience. It is important to choose the ripest papaya, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and peel it. Papaya seeds are not only edible, but small amounts of them in your diet can be good for you. Papaya fruits have a strong flavor that is more like a cross between mustard and black pepper and can be enjoyed with a spoon or melon ball scoop or ice cream scoop.