Papaya - Ripe? Unripe? Help needed.

[Anna N]

 

My first born son was given a couple of these by a gardener in Cambridge, Ontario. He gave one to me and one to my daughter. I thought it was a squash but he said no it was a fruit. A little research suggests that it is indeed a papaya. It is not a fruit that I have ever dealt with before. My research suggests that some papaya never ripen once picked but that others can be left on the counter to ripen.  Research also suggests that it will be ready to eat when it gives to some pressure from the fingers much like an avocado. This one is as hard as a rock!

 

 Do I give it time on the counter? Do I cut into it and see what it’s like inside? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

The marker is there just as a size comparison. 

Edited September 2, 2018 by Anna N
Grammar (log)

[dcarch]

That's not a papaya. It is some kind of Asian melon.

 

dcarch

[pastrygirl]

1 minute ago, dcarch said:

That's not a papaya. It is some kind of Asian melon.

 

 

Pepino, perhaps?

 

I have no idea what to do with a pepino melon, let us know what it's like!

[Anna N]

12 minutes ago, dcarch said:

That's not a papaya. It is some kind of Asian melon.

 

dcarch

You could be right.  But googling the photograph still comes up with papaya. 

Edited September 2, 2018 by Anna N (log)

[Anna N]

9 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Pepino, perhaps?

 

I have no idea what to do with a pepino melon, let us know what it's like!

 Don’t think it’s a pepino from the images I’m seeing.  

[Anna N]

I just cannot imagine that you can grow tropical fruits in Cambridge, Ontario!

[dcarch]

This:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1136&bih=632&ei=mG6MW8FWip79BvjiuTA&q=korean+melon&oq=korean+melon&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1595.7742..8488...0.0..0.65.603.12......2....1..gws-wiz-img.....0.nTmgx5FyNPI

 

dcarch

[Anna N]

5 minutes ago, dcarch said:

This:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1136&bih=632&ei=mG6MW8FWip79BvjiuTA&q=korean+melon&oq=korean+melon&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1595.7742..8488...0.0..0.65.603.12......2....1..gws-wiz-img.....0.nTmgx5FyNPI

 

dcarch

 Looks like that may be it!  Now to determine ripeness!  Probably won’t ripen anymore is my guess. 

[Lisa Shock]

Yeah, definitely not a papaya, the stem is a giveaway that it's a melon. Every time I buy one of these, they are unripe or just bland -maybe I am just unlucky, though. Looks like you should eat it ASAP it's not a melon that keeps or ripens in storage:

https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Korean_Melon_294.php

[heidih]

they are boring in my opinion. Do a quick sniff and if there is any fragrance cut in. I'd persoally treat it more in a cucumber salad way. It does not support itself flavor-wise

Edited September 2, 2018 by heidih (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Yeah, I got one of these from S-Mart one time, and while it was highly anticipated as something I had never experienced before, I was disappointed. Still, anytime you can try something as a new experience is a good day, in my book.

[liuzhou]

It's a pity it's not a papaya, but it definitely isn't. Papayas are so much better and can be eaten both ripe and unripe. The famous Thai (actually it came from Laos) papaya salad is made from the unripe fruit.

 

Here are unripe papayas on a tree just outside my home. I'd steal one, but they are inside a police station's grounds.

 

When ripe, they do turn yellow, but do not have those white stripes in your photograph.

 

The Korean melon or chamoe which you have, while inexplicably popular in er, of all places, Korea, is one of the least interesting melons I've come across. We get them here, too. In fact, it was China which introduced them to Korea, largely because it seemed a good idea to dump the garbage on someone else. Allegedly.

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by liuzhou
typo (log)

[Anna N]

 

And the reveal!

 

It’s definitely a melon. It is definitely much too under ripe to eat.  A taste suggested a lot of sweetness without much of anything else. Unfortunately there was nothing more to do with it than bin it. 

 

Thanks to all for educating me. 

[blue_dolphin]

When I searched for Korean melon recipes, the first one highlighted was Korean Melon Popsicles.  

Apparently Google knows me all too well 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

At first glance I thought it was a papaya, the kind we get here in México--much larger than the Hawaiian type. But as someone else (Lisa) mentioned that the stem gave it away. Too bad you didn't get more guidance from the gardener who gave it to your son. I guess I'd just pretend it's a cucumber and make a big salad. It looks crunchy--

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[Anna N]

4 minutes ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

At first glance I thought it was a papaya, the kind we get here in México--much larger than the Hawaiian type. But as someone else (Lisa) mentioned that the stem gave it away. Too bad you didn't get more guidance from the gardener who gave it to your son. I guess I'd just pretend it's a cucumber and make a big salad. It looks crunchy--

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Thanks. The flesh was rock hard.  I would not be surprised if more guidance was given; I just don’t think it was remembered. 

[Anna N]

 

 Thought it was time that I became more  familiar with a papaya.  Have to say that I don’t find it much more interesting than the melon. It has an amazing look but I would have to force myself to actually eat much more of it. I have had two or three spoonfuls.

 I suspect, like many fruits, it is probably quite luscious when eaten where it grows.  It lost something in transportation. 😂

[IowaDee]

Nope, I've had lots of them eaten within a mile of where they grew.   Basically just a pretty dull fruit.  Lots of lime helps both as 

something to squeeze on them and to add to a margarita to drink along side them.  Give me a mango any time.

[Okanagancook]

I would agree.  We ate them when visiting Mexico.if you have a lime, a little juice helps.

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, IowaDee said:

Nope, I've had lots of them eaten within a mile of where they grew.   Basically just a pretty dull fruit.  Lots of lime helps both as 

something to squeeze on them and to add to a margarita to drink along side them.  Give me a mango any time.

Totally - lime or lemon squeezed on them. 

[dcarch]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

 Thought it was time that I became more  familiar with a papaya.  Have to say that I don’t find it much more interesting than the melon. It has an amazing look but I would have to force myself to actually eat much more of it. I have had two or three spoonfuls.

 I suspect, like many fruits, it is probably quite luscious when eaten where it grows.  It lost something in transportation. 😂

That papaya is not ripe.

It should be  orange/red all the way to the rind when ripe. When it is ripe, it will have lots more flavor.

 

dcarch

[KennethT]

Personally, I've never met a ripe papaya that I've liked.  Even the most ripe (picked about 10 feet away) was pretty tasteless.  Oddly enough, my wife REALLY dislikes ripe papaya - she says that the smell reminds her of vomit, slightly, and finds it just completely off-putting.  We are both big fans of unripe papaya, which has even less flavor than ripe papaya (and no vomit odor) but has a great crunchy texture and is a good vehicle for dressings or dips in chili salt or sugar.

[Anna N]

4 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Personally, I've never met a ripe papaya that I've liked. 

Thanks. I am just so happy to discover that by never knowing a papaya, I wasn’t missing much at all!   Life is full of tasty things. I am quite happy not to meet another papaya — ripe or otherwise. 

[Fernwood]

16 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Oddly enough, my wife REALLY dislikes ripe papaya - she says that the smell reminds her of vomit, slightly, and finds it just completely off-putting.  

 

I feel the same way and I have wondered if it's one of those things where there's a genetic variability in being able to smell a particular aroma compound, or at least in how intensely it's perceived.  Papaya never did anything to hurt me but I couldn't stand it as a kid, found it rather nauseating.  It wasn't something I was routinely exposed to growing up in New York but we went to the Bahamas once when I was around 11 years old.  Every morning at breakfast I would say No papaya, please--I'll just have the second course (no memory of what came after the fruit) and every morning they served me the papaya anyway and I had to sit there and smell it until it was removed.  Ick!  

Green papaya is fine in SE Asian food but I guess those Bahamian ones were nice and ripe....

Edited September 6, 2018 by Fernwood
Acknowledgement of edibility of green papaya (log)

[helenjp]

Chamoe melon.

There are a few Asian fruits that are not all that sweet - they can be very nice mixed with other fruit as a change of pace - try layering them with slices of something sweeter or stronger, or with a handful of sweet, dark grapes?