ATSARANG PAPAYA

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 cups grated papaya
1/4 cup salt
Vinegar
Water
Brown sugar
Red or green bell pepper, julienne
Carrots, cut into flowers or julienne
Onion, julienne
Garlic, julienne
Ginger, julienne
Salt to taste

PROCEDURE:

Put salt on the grated papaya and toss it. Let it stand for about 30 minutes to an hour.

Afterward, rinse the papaya with water and drain.
Put the washed papaya on a cheesecloth and squeeze all the liquid from it.

Meanwhile, on a big pot, put the vinegar and water.
Let it boil and then put the sugar and salt. Dissolve the sugar well. Continue boiling for at least 5 minutes.

Then put the onions, garlic, ginger, bell pepper, and carrots. Simmer for two minutes.

Lastly, add the grated papaya. Mix it well with the other ingredients. Simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Turn off the stove and let it cool down before putting it in a container.

TERM:

julienne- cutting the vegetables (ex: bell pepper) into thin, long strips

You can use a grater for the papaya or if you have a food processor it will be faster.

       

PICO DE GALLO

Pico de gallo is a Mexican salad, or sometimes called salsa fresca. It is made of fresh condiments like tomatoes, onions, chilis (jalapeno), and sometimes added with more ingredients like cilantro, lime or lemon juice, cucumber, etc. I really love this salsa, it goes very well with grilled foods, fried foods, hamburgers, and can be use in tacos and fajitas. You should use fresh ingredients because it adds more to the flavor and taste. It just tastes better using fresh ingredients. You can just vary the amount of chile (jalapeno) on it. If you're not into spicy stuff then you can either omit the chile or just add a little bit of it. You can also get the seeds out of the jalapeno, because the seeds add to the level of spiciness. This is just very easy to make and no hassle at all, especially if you like chopping veggies finely, haha.