Fruity Natural Tenderizer

It has been quite a while since I last posted a recipe, for the simple reason that I haven’t been doing much cooking (or baking) lately. We have been eating out an awful lot. But I thought it would be a nice idea to make this week a sort of a “pork week” on shiokadelicious. I’ve dug out, from the archives, a few pork dishes which are “regulars” on our dinner table, and which for some reason or other I’ve never bothered to post about. Until now. These are simple, casual, honest home-style dishes. A couple of them, which will be posted over the next few days, can be considered Chinese “comfort food” – every family will have their own version of these dishes. They evoke strong feelings of familiarity and affection, and quite simply bring a sigh of pleasure and satisfaction to the lips after they have been enjoyed.

Today’s dish is so incredibly easy and quick to make that I can’t really call it a recipe. It is one of those dishes which I call “ingredient user-uppers” – dishes that turn an otherwise “useless” or discarded food item into something that is tasty and nutritious. This particular dish has wonderfully light, fruity flavors and is a very healthy, naturally low fat dish.

What do you do when you have a dud in your kitchen? A papaya dud, that is. Every once in a while we bring home papayas from the market that look beautifully ripe and sweet on the outside. But alas, when we cut them open, they are hard, colorless and just plain bland. Not a hint of sweetness or even a hint of papaya aromas. The flesh is pale, hard and devoid of any juice at all. These are the fruits that are picked way too early, when they are still very raw, and they have merely turned yellow and ripe-looking on the outside from being stored in warm warehouses. They are simply not edible or palatable.

However, I loathe wasting food. I really try not to throw any food away, if at all possible. So even when the papayas are so unfit to be eaten as fresh fruits, I can’t bring myself to simply chuck them out. So what then? I suppose one could try to make Thai-style papaya salads from them. But these are so tasteless they simply won’t work very well in salads, which are best when made with raw, green papayas that have a wonderful crunch and a light tartness to them. These duds are, to all intents of purposes, “ripe”, and yet are simply inedible.

So, the easiest and tastiest way is to cook with them, in a savory dish. I like to cook them with pork, but I think they could work with beef too. Once sautéed, the papayas are completely transformed. The pale, insipid flesh turns a rich, vibrant, jeweled red color. From being tasteless, it becomes beautifully sweet, juicy and tender. And quite simply, very delicious.

By virtue of its natural enzymatic activity, papaya is also a wonderful meat tenderizer. When cooked with meat, it lends an amazing sweetness and tenderness to the meat, which in turn, by its savory flavors, brings out the most incredible sweetness and juiciness in the otherwise useless fruit. It is a most wondrous and harmonious partnership.

I usually use pork tenderloin in this dish, simply because that’s my favorite cut of pork. I like it for its leanness and tenderness. But other cuts of pork would work too. Just be sure to make adjustments to the cooking times and the timing of adding the pork to the papaya. A cut of meat that requires a longer cooking time can afford to be cooked with the papaya for almost the entire, if not the entire, cooking period.

Because pork tenderloin doesn’t require a lengthy cooking time, and because it will also become too tender, to the point of being unpalatably mushy, if cooked with the papaya for too long, I usually brown the meat first and add them to the papaya towards the end to let them finish cooking.

• Slice pork into very thin slices, and season with some light soy sauce, tiny bit of sugar, dash of sesame oil and sprinkle of corn flour.

• Sauté some chopped garlic in a little hot oil, until nicely fragrant. Add the pork and sauté very quickly. Once the color changes, season with ½ teaspoon of dark soy sauce. Toss to mix, and remove from heat. Set aside.

• Cut papaya into fairly thin slices.

• Again sauté a little chopped garlic. Add the papaya and sauté for a few minutes. Add seasonings of approximately 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, 1 scant teaspoon sugar, together with about ½ cup of hot water. (This would be for one small papaya.) Mix well, cover pan, and leave the papaya to simmer, on low heat, until almost at the desired tenderness. (I actually like to get the papaya fairly soft, as I find that usually at that point, the flavors are beautifully intensified).

• Uncover the pan. Add the pork, and sauté until it is completely cooked through, and the flavors have melded with those of the papaya.

• If using a cut of meat that requires a longer cooking time, you can brown the meat, then proceed to add the papaya straight into the meat, and cook until both are tender.

That’s it. Simple, light, refreshing, colorful, vibrant fruity goodness.

Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All Rights Reserved.
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