Young Papaya Soup, also Big Breast Soup

Was meaning to share this recipe ages ago but procrastination got the better of me. And with this MCO/CMCO/RMCO/dunno-what-CO, the days meld into weeks and months, and sometimes, it’s hard to believe that suddenly a month has gone by.

Recently, we chopped off the top half of the papaya tree as it was leaning precariously into the neighbour’s garden. We didn’t want it to suddenly land on someone’s head in the midst of a thunderstorm if it broke, so it was off with its head instead.

Harvested the whole bunch of papayas but they were really tiny … firstly, it’s supposed to be some Hawaiian papayas species. Secondly, the soil in my garden isn’t very good I reckon, so the fruits were ultra small!

Rather than have them go to waste, we gave some to friends who wanted to make pickles. Then somebody suggested papaya soup and I thought, yeah, why not? I looked it up and it seems this soup is good for ‘big breasts’ …LMAO! Errr… I’m the only with boobs in the house and they’re a good size already, thank you!

The papayas were so young and raw that the seeds hadn’t even begun to be formed yet. But in the soup, they tasted delicious and if you didn’t already know, you would have thought they were some kind of melon instead. If the papayas were a teensy bit riper, it would have sweetened the soup naturally even more.

Not a papaya fan, this soup gives me a whole new look at the fruit.

Ingredients

1 large young papaya or a few baby ones (cut into bite sizes, about 1/8th of an apple)

1.5L water

Chicken stock (or if you prefer more subtle and natural flavours, you can omit this)

Half a chicken, cut small, or 3 large chicken thighs, or pork ribs in equivalent weight

1 carrot, sliced into wheels

8 to 10 red dates (optional)

2 tablespoons goji berries (approx)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

When the water boils, put in the chicken, followed by the young papaya, carrots and other ingredients. Boil for about 30mins or until the papaya and carrots have softened. Serve as a starter or to go with rice.