Can someone tell me how to choose a ripe papaya? Quick?

Some yellow parts / Slightly firm like an eraser!

Orange color,almost soft,smells riper than a green one.Of course i always get some key limes too.

GlassOnion wrote:

Some yellow parts / Slightly firm like an eraser!

I THINK that's what I may have ended up with... I'll take a picture and post...

henpecked wrote:

Orange color,almost soft,smells riper than a green one.Of course i always get some key limes too.

SMELLS RIPER than a green one? That would be helpful if I had ANY idea what ripe was supposed to smell like!!! LOL! And you buy Key Limes too? Do limes help papayas to ripen somehow?? (I love Key Limes - My mom makes a rockin' Key Lime Pie!)

Lime on papaya is THE Hawaiin way to breakfast!

Honestly, you probably have to buy 'em a few times to find out what ripe feels and smells like. I would say a ripe papaya has a floral, almost slightly gamy smell where an underripe one is almost odorless.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

Lime on papaya is THE Hawaiin way to breakfast!

Are you serious?

ScooterNScotty wrote:

Honestly, you probably have to buy 'em a few times to find out what ripe feels and smells like. I would say a ripe papaya has a floral, almost slightly gamy smell where an underripe one is almost odorless.

For everyone who has responded, THANK YOU! LOL!

We were at Sam's today, and they had these HUGE ... THINGS on sale for $2. I looked closer and they were Papayas. I've never HAD a papaya before, so not only do I not know what they're supposed to look like, I don't know what they're supposed to taste like.

I'm not a big fan of tropical fruit. I don't like Mango, I don't care much for pomegranate (don't even know if that's tropical or not), about all I really like that comes from Hawaii is pineapple and coconut. Oh wait, I like kiwi, but I don't know where that comes from. I'll try anything, and I'll eat it, but most of it isn't really my "thing."

I LOVE citrus. It's a shame really, because it really isn't all that good for you. But whatever...

Anyway, they had these huge (like almost the size of a bowling ball pin) THINGS that I found out were papayas, and I figured that if I could get all that fruit for my birds for $2, why not? And if I picked a bad one or they didn't like it?? What have I lost?? Less than most people in the U.S. spend on a cuppa joe in the mornings. So, I have a yellowish-greenish kinda moderately firm bowling-ball pin that doesn't smell like anything, sitting next to the delicious pineapple (that I can't WAIT to cut into) on my kitchen counter.

Mmmmmm!! I would say, leave it overnight on your counter then murder the damn fruit tomorrow

Yes, I was serious! And it is very tasty. Even if I did misspell "Hawaiian".

GlassOnion wrote:

Mmmmmm!! I would say, leave it overnight on your counter then murder the damn fruit tomorrow

I concur. Or even a few days, although you can't really tell by appearance, it looks on the under-ripe side. Of course, since it's huge, if you don't like it, your birds will turn out not to like it either... in which case I'll be right over!

You don't even like passion fruit? How can you live? And ripe mango I love, although it's a PITA to prep and if it's green it's pretty astringent. Ripe it's like a peach only better. Papaya, to me, is a cooler flavor than mango, and a less sharp sour flavor than pineapple, maybe kind of like cantaloupe but less overtly sweet with a kind of pleasant muskiness. I'm not helping am I?

I only like fresh pineapple. I was in heaven in Mexico.

I love trying new fruits.

My local grocery store always has some obscure fruit.

Passionfruit, Star fruit, Pomegranate, dragonfruit, prickly pear...

Too bad my family hates trying new things.

I love just sitting down with a giant dragonfruit and munching down on it. It's like a mixture between watermelon and kiwi. Plus, it's beautiful.

And when pomegranates are in season, I'll buy several of them, get a big bowl with water, and pick out all the seed thingys. I save them and put 'em on whatever I'm having.

My husband and son could buy mango by the truckload. He could eat two or three a day. I've tasted it and was underwhelmed. The fids like it though. They always gang up on him when they see him eating one.

And Passion fruit? I just Googled it, you don't eat it do you? Everything I saw was just about the juice, is that right? Cause if I'm supposed to eat it, forget it! LOL!

Dragon fruit I've never heard of, and star fruit I've seen but never tried. I tried to get my husband to buy one a few months ago but he wouldn't pay the $$$ for it. LOL I'm like you zaza, I'm all for trying new things, every once in a while I even like them!

I'm very adventurous when it comes down to food. I've tried dragonfruit, but it tasted like kiwi that's been drained of all flavour. I want to try passionfruit one day, passionfruit scented products always smell so good!!

I remember the first time I tried passionfruit. I opened it up, not knowing what was inside, and was surprised to find it looked like there was frogs eggs in it.

It had the texture of jello, with a crunchy seed inside. Very fruity and delicious.

So how do you eat it? Do you just... eat it? Seeds and all? (Trying to wrap my head around eating the yick that I saw in the photos.)

The most usual behavior is to scoop out the seeds and cut away the peel. Then you can dice, or slice and drizzle with lime. Very tasty!

The seeds are edible and can be used in marinades and dressings or eaten with the fruit, but they are pretty bitter and peppery. They are high in papain, a degestive enzyme used in meat tenderizers, which is also present in the fruit.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

The most usual behavior is to scoop out the seeds and cut away the peel. Then you can dice, or slice and drizzle with lime. Very tasty!

The seeds are edible and can be used in marinades and dressings or eaten with the fruit, but they are pretty bitter and peppery. They are high in papain, a degestive enzyme used in meat tenderizers, which is also present in the fruit.

As usual you are quite right.
If you like things just a little different you can save just a bit of the fruit pound the seeds,(just enough to crack them) mix with just a bit of EVO and add a small amount of your faverite all around spice marinade your meat or veggies and cook on the grill.

I'm really anxious to cut into this papaya!!!

Oh, passionfruit you eat like pomegranete basically. Scoop out the seeds and either eat them whole or press the juice out and use that. They tend to be super expensive when I can get them so I usually use the juice in a custard or mousse or something like that. Very perfumey and exotic. In Hawaii it's also called Lilikoi.

What I do, is buy papaya, some strawberries, banana, yogurt(plain or vanilla), sugar without sugar, and milk without milk(lactose free). I peel the seeds of papaya and cut all fruits on pieces, then mix everything and blend it.
There is no better breakfast!
Banana I use not for flavor, but to not have diarrhea after that mix

Seriously, when are passion fruit in season?

y'all are making me really curious now!


And I really never had any idea that I'd get more than 3-4 responses out of a request for papaya help! LOLOL! And here I am on Page 2!

Mmmmmm, passionfruit. *drool*

Not a big papaya fan, or mango. Mangos smell like cat pee to me.

Julsiebean wrote:

Not a big papaya fan, or mango. Mangos smell like cat pee to me.

My Mango smell feathers
No seriously, my bf gave me idea for making those fruit cocktails(not cockatiels). He is Mexican, so those of you being in Mexico know, that you can buy fresh fruit blend in there almost everywhere.
And when you use skim milk and low-fat yogurt, it's good for a diet, a lot of fiber!

I have a passion fruit vine and I get at least three or four passionfruits each year but I don't really know when they're ripe or how to eat them so I just play with the the guts (it's more fun than you might think!) and give them to Rainbow sometimes... besides I just got the plant for it's flowers. they're wonky! anyone know if I can give the flowers to rainbow to snack on? she likes to nibble on nasturtium and rose petals from the yard

heres what it looks like (not my photo)

Okey dokey!!! I butchered the Papaya today!!!

Didn't like it so much. Actually, I didn't like it or dislike it... it didn't have much taste at all. I tasted the seeds though, and I can sure see how they'd be good on salad, or probably on a ham in place of cloves... I don't eat ham anymore, but I hate the cloves/ham smell. I've ALWAYS chosen my seasonings by scent, so I can imagine what the ham/papaya seed combo would taste like. Would probably be really good.

If it was really bland, it might not have been quite ripe. But they aren't a big punchy flavor.

Aside from salt, I don't think you can go wrong choosing seasonings by scent... so much of taste is scent anyway.

JJ really liked it.

Was it Papaya y'all said to put lime on?