Green papayas are available in grocery stores - they are actually not that green so you have to choose and
make sure that you purchase the greenest that you can find and also the hardest. Soft papaya will not work
for this recipe. The best papaya for this is "manibalang" - half-ripe (just turning into yellow) but still hard.
If you go to a
Vietnamese store, you might find real green papayas.
green papaya
white vinegar
salt (asin)
My mother used to make this by peeling the papaya, cutting it in half, then discarding the seeds. She
then sliced the papaya flesh into small thin pieces. The pieces are then dressed in vinegar and salt. Sometimes
she added a little bit of sugar.
The picture above is a variant of my mother's recipe. Instead of slicing the papaya, I grated it using the
big holes of the grater just like making achara (or you can also julienne it). For a picture of the hand grater,
go to the melon sa malamig recipe. This is how the Thais make papaya salad. And instead
of vinegar, you may want to use lime or lemon juice. You may also add pieces of boiled shrimp (or even dried shrimp)
just like the Thais do.
