Atchara

Grated green papaya cured in salt then packed into a sweet and sour brine with carrot, ginger, raisins, and peppercorns, the pickle set beside everything fried in the Philippines

Origin: Manila & Luzon, Philippines

From the journey of Papaya.

The name has travelled further than most things in this jar. Persian and Indian achar became Malay and Indonesian acar in the trading ports of maritime Southeast Asia, and reached the Philippines as atchara; the vegetable pickle came with the word. When exactly is not established. The transmission is often placed in the Srivijayan centuries, from the seventh to the thirteenth, which is plausible for the technique but cannot be the date for this pickle, since the papaya itself did not cross the Pacific until Spanish ships brought it to Manila in the middle of the sixteenth century. What Filipino cooks did with the American fruit was to put it into the Asian pickle. Green papaya shreds hold their crunch in brine in a way that few vegetables do, and the enzyme in the unripe flesh is one reason the pickle is set beside fat: lechon kawali, fried longganisa, grilled inihaw na liempo, fried fish, anything that wants cutting. Every region tunes it. Ilocano atchara is sharper, more vinegar than sugar, and heavy on the ginger to stand up to the fattiest sausages in the country; Kapampangan versions run sweeter and are cut into finer threads; some households add raisins and red pepper for the look of the jar as much as the taste of it.

Ingredients

Papaya

1 kg green (unripe) papaya, peeled, seeded, and coarsely grated
2 tbsp salt

Vegetables

1 large carrot, cut into fine matchsticks
40 g fresh ginger, cut into fine matchsticks
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
50 g raisins

Brine

400 ml cane vinegar
250 g granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black peppercorns

Method

Toss the grated papaya with the 2 tablespoons of salt and leave it in a colander for 30 minutes, then squeeze it dry in a clean cloth, as hard as you can.
Rinse the squeezed papaya briefly in cold water, squeeze it dry a second time, and combine it with the carrot, ginger, red pepper, garlic, onion, and raisins.
Bring the vinegar, sugar, salt, and peppercorns to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, and simmer for five minutes.
Pack the vegetables into clean jars and pour over the hot brine to cover. Seal and cool.
Refrigerate for at least three days before eating.

Notes

For the Ilocano style, cut the sugar to 150 g and double the ginger. Use a properly green papaya with white seeds. Any orange in the flesh and the shreds will go soft in the jar.

The Gastrographer

Name: Atchara
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Philippines
Ingredients: 1 kg green (unripe) papaya, peeled, seeded, and coarsely grated; 2 tbsp salt; 1 large carrot, cut into fine matchsticks; 40 g fresh ginger, cut into fine matchsticks; 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips; 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 1 small onion, thinly sliced; 50 g raisins; 400 ml cane vinegar; 250 g granulated sugar; 2 tsp salt; 1 tsp black peppercorns

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control