Atchara is a delicious way to elevate your meals. A delightful medley of tangy and slightly sweet flavors, this pickled papaya is a must-have condiment! Serve with grilled or fried dishes to balance rich and savory dishes with its refreshing taste.
If you notice, the vegetables and vinegar sauce that topped our escabeche lapu-lapu share the basic ingredients of atchara. This is because atchara is a form of escabeche, a type of dish where meat, fish, or vegetables are marinated in an acidic mixture with vinegar as the usual souring agent.
Ingredient notes
Creating the perfect pickled papaya is using quality and fresh ingredients.
- Green Papaya- shredded unripe papaya serves as the vegetable base
- Carrots- shredded plus a few florets as a decorative touch. They bring a pop of vibrant color, additional crunch, and a hint of sweetness.
- Aromatics- garlic and onions enhance overall flavor; ginger adds warmth and spice; peppercorns for zing
- Vinegar- usually distilled white vinegar, but you can also use palm vinegar. As the main ingredient for pickling, it adds tartness and acts as a preservative.
- Sugar- balances the tangy flavors with sweetness.
- Additional Ingredients- include red bell peppers and raisins for color, flavor, and texture.
How to make pickled papaya
The key to the best atchara is the right balance of sourness and sweetness in its fermenting juice, and I find the 1 ยฝ cups vinegar to 1 cup sugar ratio perfect for my taste. Adding spices and a few days of maturation in the refrigerator beautifully round up the distinct flavors of this colorful slaw.
- Prepare the Green Papaya- peel, remove the seeds, and shred it using a grater or a food processor. After shredding, sprinkle with salt and let it sit for a few minutes or until it dispels liquid. Squeeze out to remove excess liquid and rinse thoroughly.
- Prepare the other vegetables and aromatics, such as carrots, bell peppers, onion, and garlic. Slice in uniform sizes for even pickling.
- Create the Pickling Brine- combine vinegar, sugar, and salt in a pot and Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves completely.
- Combine the prepared vegetables and pickling mixture in a mixing bowl, ensuring the vegetables are fully submerged.
- Store in sterilized glass jars and let them marinate in the refrigerator for one or two days for the flavors to meld and develop.
Helpful tip
Visit the National Food Center for Home Food Preservation website for more information on safe and proper canning/bottling techniques.
How to serve and store
- Atchara is a quintessential Filipino condiment traditionally served as an accompaniment to fried or grilled meats and seafood such as inihaw na pusit, pork bbq, fried chicken a la Max's restaurant, balancing the rich, savory meals with its bright and refreshing taste.
- Store atchara in a sealed, airtight container in the refrigerator to preserve flavor and prevent contamination. Stored properly, it should last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Check the pickled vegetables for signs of spoilage, such as foil odor, mold growth, discoloration, and texture change, and discard if any.
- I donโt recommend freezing as the vegetables can turn mushy when frozen and thawed.
More condiment recipes
Ingredients
- 1 large unripe green papaya peeled, seeded, and shredded
- salt
- 1 ยฝ cups white vinegar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 thumb-size ginger peeled and julienned
- 1 small onion peeled and sliced thinly
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
- ยฝ small red bell pepper seeded and julienned
- ยฝ small green pepper seeded and julienned
- 1 large carrot peeled and shredded
- ยผ cup raisins
Equipment
- grater
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine shredded papaya and about 2 tablespoons of salt. Allow to sit for about 1 hour or until papaya begins to release liquid. Place papaya in a cheesecloth and squeeze firmly to dispel juices.
- In a sauce pot over medium heat, combine vinegar, sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3 to 5 minutes or until sugar and salt are dissolved.
- Add ginger, onions, garlic and peppercorns. Continue to cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine papaya, bell peppers, carrots and raisins. Add pickling solution and toss gently to combine.
- In a sterilized jar, transfer atchara and close with tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days to allow flavors to develop before serving.
Notes
Video
Nutrition Information
โThis website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.โ
Yumz says
Shall i put the hot vinegar solution. To papaya shred or let the vinegar solution to cool before pouring into the papaya shred?
janice says
I made and followed your recipe and it turned perfect !!! this is my first time to make atchara ..... Thank you and I recommend this to all people !!!!!
Lalaine Manalo says
Hi Janice! Glad it turned out perfect.
J N. says
When will the atchara go bad? What will happen and what can it cause it
Ann says
I made my first atchara with your recipe and it was great that even my husband loved it ( it was his first time trying out atchara). Now I am about to make my second jar.. thank you so much for this recipe ๐
Lalaine says
I am glad you like it!
Ellika says
Hi Ms.Lalaine.Thank you for the recipe..Just want to ask lang po if do you have to rinse the papaya with water after leaving it for an hour with the salt?thank you once again ๐
Julian says
Excuse, but what would be used instead of carrots before carrots were grown in the Phil?
Xian says
Hi.
Tried making your recipe.
Very helpful.
Easy to follow.
I would like to ask though how long is the shelf life if properly stored in a fridge?
What other veggies arw suitable for tjos type of preservation?
Thanks heaps!
Xian
Sam says
hi! i suddenly had the craving for atchara, but there's no way i could get a hold of unripe green papaya. Do you have any suggestions or idea what other veggie i could use in lieu of papaya? Thank you~
Lalaine says
Hello Sam,
I've made atchara using daikon (labanos) and it works great. This is what they use for the Vietnamese dipping sauces which is usually pickled with fish sauce and lime juice or vinegar. Give it a try and I think you'll like it. ๐
Angela says
Best recipe I have found! Now on my second batch with 2 huge jars.Thanks for the right formula for the picking solution.
Lalaine says
Thank you so much, Angela, for the feedback. I am so glad you enjoyed the atchara recipe. ๐
Angela B. says
Hi there,
I have bookmarked your recipe index since the Spring of 2016. So far, I have tried about 5 recipes already. But, the best turnout is this atchara recipe. I just popped open the first jar, out of 2 jars made from 1 green papaya. It smells so good! Just the right amount of everything in it! Thanks for the recipe, this is definitely a keeper!
Lalaine says
Thank you so much, Angela, for the feedback. A good atchara is all about the right balance of sweet and sour and I am glad you like the proportions I used. Enjoy!
Elijah says
Good Morning po,
My name Elijah and I have an iBook school project about Atchara that will be published online. I would like to ask if I may use your recipe for my iBook. You will be credited and put in my sources for my iBook.
Thank You po
tammy says
thanks a new recipe is always welcome
Lalaine says
You're welcome ๐
Ron says
Hello Lalaine,
This sounds good, Lalaine! My complaint with our previous version of achara is that it doesn't seem to have that fine balance of sweet and tart. I'm glad you took the trouble of finding the right ratio for us!
I hope you don't mind - but can you give me an estimate of that "large papaya" by weight? I'm not good at scaling a recipe down until I get the weights and measures.
My next question is - what kind of salt do you use? Is it fine, or rock salt, or somewhere in between?
Many thanks once again, Lalaine!
Lalaine says
I think the papaya I used was roughly 1 to 1-1/2 pounds. I just used regular iodized salt.
Ron says
Thank you, Lalaine!
Lalaine says
You're welcome, Ron ๐
Jingay Gregorio says
Hi, we had abundant supply of green papaya from My husbands last visit to his hometown Quezon.. So i searched for an easy recipe of atchara since he requested it. And so I found this link! I want to thank you for sharing this super easy and uper delicious recipe. My mom is a very picky eater nowadays and she said it's very delicious.. I just made them last night but we started eating it already!! This is one of my hubby's fave.. And so i might be using this recipe for a very long time.. Thanks again and i'll make sure to try your other recipes
Lalaine says
Lucky you! I love papaya, especially the ripe ones for breakfast ๐
I am glad you liked this atchara recipe and thank you so much for taking the time to leave a feedback.
joyce says
I was browsing KP's facebook page and came across this recipe again. This reminds me of my pickled mangoes, which I have been preparing by batches for the past weeks. Mangoes are in season here right now. In as much as I would like to share the recipe here (which I've learned only last year), I am hesitant because unlike you, you follow particular measurements for the ingredients. I, on the other hand, just follow the instinct of my taste buds randomly. Hehe!
Lalaine says
Oh please, please Joyce! I would love to learn how to pickle mangoes! They're in season now here in California and I love to bottle them for days when they are so hard to find. There is a contest form on the navigation bar. I've been asking for recipe submissions but I haven't received a lot to review.
Lalaine says
I actually just posted one recipe using mangoes ๐
joyce says
This is actually my first time to write down a recipe. I think this recipe is not contest-worthy, but a recipe worth sharing to your readers. This is my way of saying thank you.
Disclaimer: I used the proportion that suits our tastebuds, then patterned the procedure with KP's.
SWEET PICKLED MANGOES
Ingredients
4 to 5 pcs (about 1 kilo) firm unripe mangoes
2 sets brine solution (reserve 1 set for Day 2)
sugar syrup (reserve for Day 3)
For the brine solution (1 set)
3 cups water
3 tbsp salt
For the sugar syrup
3 cups water
1-1/2 cup light brown sugar
Instructions
Day 1
1. Peel and cut the flesh of the mangoes into big strips. Discard the seeds.
2. Arrange the mangoes in a glass jar.
2. Pour in one set of the brine solution. Make sure the mangoes are fully submerge.
3. Close the jar with tight-fitting lid and refrigerate overnight.
Day 2
1. Pour and discard the solution of the soaked mangoes.
2. Replace the brine solution with the reserved set.
3. Bring back and refrigerate overnight.
Day 3
1. Strain the soaked mangoes and wash with running water.
2. Sun dry the mangoes for about 6 to 8 hours.
3. Arrange the mangoes in a glass jar.
4. Pour in the sugar syrup. Make sure the mangoes are fully submerge.
5. Close the jar with tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for 2 to 3 days to allow flavors to develop.
6. Serve and enJoy.
For the brine solution
1. In a pot, combine water and salt. Stir and allow the salt to completely dissolve.
For the sugar syrup
1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and bubbles are formed. Allow the syrup to completely cool.
Notes:
Proportions are flexible according to preference.
Lalaine says
Thank you!
Peter Wiles says
I have six papaya in my garden and love your recipe. As to pickled mango I make a killer spicy mango chutney that is great with lamb and other curries.
pao g says
Thank you for this recipe. I had this craving for atchara back home because Im used to have it always in our ref. But now im faraway from my parents and my aunt who always gives us atchara now has alzheimers. Sad to say, my aunt already forgot her recipes. I never thought atchara is easy to do. It took time for the preparation but i used your easy to follow recipe.
Lalaine says
Hi Pao
I work in a convalescent hospital so I see everyday the ravages of this disease. Sad how precious moments are lost and forgotten. I am thankful I was able to help you recreate in your kitchen food you love ๐