#1 - 木瓜糖水 {Papaya Dessert}

For several weeks, I've been considering starting a blog about my ventures into cooking. I thought that it would be interesting to document how well things turn out for a young female with little to no experience with cooking. I think that knowing how to cook is a beautiful thing. Not only is cooking fun, it will also give you a better appreciation for the things you eat. The amount of work that goes into a dish never ceases to amaze me and now, I will get to experience the joy of producing of good meal. Now, onward to my first dish!

In Chinese, this dish is called 木瓜糖水, which translates into Papaya Sweetened Water. This is definitely one of my favorite desserts and most importantly, it will always remind me of my childhood (which is not so far away, but still!) As soon as I thought of this blog idea, I went to my mom and asked her to teach me how to make my awesome dessert and it turned out to be quite simple.

木瓜糖水

Ingredients (3 servings)
- 1/2 papaya
- 1/3 bag of 冰糖 (rock sugar) (can substitute with sugar)
- water (can substitute with milk)

This is the rock sugar I used. Can be purchase in most Chinese supermarkets.

1) Cut papaya into small cubes

2) Place cubes in pot and fill the pot with water. My mom just told me to estimate the amount of water depending on how many people being served. This answer, I found, was incredibly vague. I just added until the water covered the papaya and they started floating.
3) Heat the water at high heat until boil. [7-10 min]
4) Add the sugar and change to low heat. [10-15 min]
5) Serve hot or cold. If you want to serve it cold, make sure to let it cool for 1-2 hours with the lid partially on and then refrigerate it. I prefer to have it cold, but go with whatever you like.

The finished dish! So yummy! ^_^

I will definitely make this dish again with more ingredients like eggs, ginger, and 雪耳, a yellow fungus. This was definitely a simplified, no-frills version of the recipe, but I had to work with the ingredients I had with me in my dorm. I made it on the night before I moved out of my dorms, so I really had nothing left, except for what I had bought on an earlier shopping trip. I'm still really happy with how it turned out. I think that this is truly the best way to eat papaya, other than by itself. Papayas will always be one of my favorite fruits. <3 So, this is the end of my first post! Happy eating!

<3 Joanna Mei

Watched Gossip Girl as I was cutting my papaya. >.<