DEHYDRATED SWEETENED PAPAYA

How to make a dehydrated sweetened papaya?

1.       Wash rare-ripe papaya to remove adhering dirt.

2.       Peel, halve, remove seeds and wash again.

3.       Cut into 12 cm-long and 4 cm-thick slices

4.       Arrange slices in a wide nylon or sinamay basket and expose to steam over rapidly boiling water for 5-6 minutes.

5.       Soak papaya slices overnight in mixture of lime and sodium metabisulfite solution (for every 4 cups water add 1 tsp. lime and ¼ tsp. sodium metabisulfite powder.

6.       Drain the solution

7.       Immerse papaya slices in hot syrup (boil 1 part sugar for every kilo of papaya slices) with kalamansi (1 tsp. kalamansi for every cup syrup). Set aside overnight.

8.       Drain the syrup, add 1 ½ cups sugar to the syrup and boil.

9.       Immerse papaya slices in hot syrup and set aside overnight.

10.   Repeat steps 8 and 9 for 3 more days.

11.   After the last soaking in syrup, drain and rinse slices with water to remove surface syrup.

12.   Arrange slice in trays and dry in cabinet dryer at 65°-70°C for 16-18 hours. Papaya slices can also be dried under the sun until samples become slightly tough.

13.   Pack in plastic bag and seal.