PAPAYA SOUP

My father-in-law likes to grow papaya trees in our back yard.

This is one of our papaya trees that bears so many fruits. We eat

papaya almost everyday because we know papaya fruits are a

good source of antioxidants,vitamin C, and flavonoids. They are

also a good sauce of folic acid, vitamins E and  A, potassium, and

dietary fiber. Papaya especially when green or unripe, contains papain,

which helps digestion and is used to tenderize meat.

Papaya leaves contain a component called (carpaine) and preliminary

studied have suggested it to be beneficial to cardiovascular health.

Papaya and its seeds have been proven anti-parasitic and anti-amoetic

activities,this is the cheapest,natural, harmless and readily available

preventive remedy against intestinal parasites. (just swallow some of the

seeds while eating papaya).

My mother used to boil papaya soup for us when we were young.

Today I tried her  papaya soup recipe.

The ingredients are:

300 grams half-ripe papaya, peeled, seeds removed and cut into

cubes.

500ml water

7 pieces of red dates

300 grams of pork ribs, washed and par-boiled

1 piece of white fungus, pre-soaked, washed and drained

salt to taste

chopped spring onion.

Boil the water, put in all the ingredients except the white fungus.

Slow fire boil for about an hour, put in the white fungus and salt.

Boil for another five minutes and the papaya soup is ready.

Serve hot with a sprinkling of chopped spring onions.

This soup really taste good. Once can taste the natural sweetness

from the papaya and is a very good tonic for women.