A long long time ago, way back in 2012, a BIG group of my West Malaysian blogger-friends came to Sibu and of course, on the very first night of their arrival, I threw a lavish dinner to welcome them to our little town. It ended with this fruit platter…
…on the house. The visitors were very surprised – even reanaclaire from the pomelo town of Ipoh said they never served that in their fruit platter over in the peninsula.
We never specify what we would like for dessert – we just leave it to the restaurant people. I remember in our younger days, we had apples and Sunkist oranges cut into wedges…or an ice-cold bowl of canned longans and peaches. Eventually, they started adding almond jelly to the latter and I did not hear anyone complain.
Of course, those imported fruits became too expensive and were replaced by our own local produce instead. In the above, there were papaya, pineapples and pomelo. I’ve noticed that these days, watermelon is rather common and honeydew too. Sometimes we may get dragon fruit, white or purple. I love how they cut the papaya – so neat and clean and I try to do it that way at home too.
This was the papaya my neighbour gave me that day…
Usually, I would cut the top off and the fruit into halves and then I would remove the seeds inside.
Usually, people would cut the fruit lengthwise and then proceed to peel the skin. I do not do that as I often mash the papaya when trying to keep a strong grip on it, clumsy me and the end result would be quite a sight. That is why I cut it into short lengths and carefully remove the skin…
…and that not-so-smooth-part where the seeds cling to inside…
I know most people do not bother but my late dad always insisted that their helper cut it away, this inside part, and if I remember correctly, she would cut the fruit lengthwise to do that and also to peel it before cutting it into short chunks to keep in a container to be stored in the fridge. The end result would look just like mine…
What about you…when you cut papayas? How you like that?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 