CHICKEN PAPAYA SOUP

Chicken Papaya soup is really a soup that is influenced by Pacific Island nations, many island nations have papaya which is full of nutrients such as vitamin C, you thought that navel orange had a whopping pack of vites C? Think again. Since I am of the Filipino/Hawaii pursuation, papaya is a staple kind of fruit, more so than organges. As a matter of fact, I'd eat a papaya any day over an orange, it's because of my flavor factor, I love the flavors that comes out of a papaya. I like filling a ripe papaya half, seeds removed and fill it with a nice tuna salad. That has some good stuff, if you are constipated, eat a papaya filled with tuna salad, and make sure you're path to the nearest restroom is clear!

Papayas can be eaten green for those of you unfamiliar with this fruit, and the popular Chicken Papaya Soup, common to most Filipino/Hawaiian kitchens are where this can be found on a pot simmering and jetting that aroma into the neighborhood. What's the aroma like? Think of this, a steaming pot of chicken, with lots of garlic, ginger, and patis (fish sauce that's fermented) that is a very popular condiment even in some of my white friend's kitchens. How to cook this soup you may ask? It is very easy to make, and I am the kind of chef that will not make the soup clear, I want it with that soupy stuff floatin around, to me that's like a dirty sexy woman, she's got it going and every dude wants to nail her, it's that magnetic thing, that vibe. Well, for women, it could be some stud dude that's a dirty filthy dog, but all the women want to lick the sweat off his back. Whatever floats your boat, whatever twirls your chopper blades. I make my soup the way I want it, and that's sloppy! That's the best kind, this isn't Cordon Bleu, this is my kitchen Jackson! Get out if you can't handle the stuff, get lost junior, go, vamoose.

Get a whole chicken, like a stewing chicken, 4 lbs or so, these birds are a little older than the fryers by several months, so the meat is more chewy, and since we're making soup, boiling it for a long period will soften the meat.

Chop the chicken into pieces with your cleaver or hacker, place that bird in a mixing bowl, and salt it with Hawaiian Salt, or Kosher Salt. Rub the salt into the meat.

Take a pot, about 6-8 qts. and put in some canola oil, heat it up over medium high heat, sautee some garlic and ginger, about a tablespoon of minced each. When the aroma comes out, add in the chicken parts, and brown the meat, bones and all, brown it considerably about 15 minutes, get that bird to sweat out all of the juices from skin to bone.

Add in luke warm filtered water to the pot, cover the chicken parts to about 5 inches above, bring to a boil, then once it is boiling turn down the heat to just a simmer, cover the pot and let it simmer for about 1 hour. Skim any funky brownishs stuff that floated to the top of the soup with a slotted spoon. Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. In the meantime, get 2 small to medium green papayas, peel it with a vegetable peeler, cut them in half, remove the seeds with a spoon, and cut the papayas into cubes about 1 1/2 inches, then add this to the pot, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Then add in about 1/4 cup of fish sauce (patis) and continue to simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes then add salt and pepper to taste, off the heat and let it sit. The papayas will be very soft, the soup is flavored by ginger, garlic, the whole chicken and fish sauce. Some Filipino cooks add in green peppers to spice it up and give it some heat, some add potatoes, some add carrots. You can add any veggie you want, just remember greens tend to wilt quickly, so add them in during the final 5-10 minutes of the cooking time.

Green papaya (importfood.com)

The outter skin is firm, the whole fruit is firm, which is a very good kind to get to make soup, imagine making soup with a ripe papaya? You'd get a mushy soup.