Atchara

Atchara or Atcharang Papaya is an appetizer made from pickled green papaya. Julienned or grated green papaya are placed in airtight containers and soaked for a week in cooked vinegar and sugar mixture with onions, garlic, ginger, peppercorn, and red bell pepper.

 

Have you ever struggled to find the perfect jar of Atchara with just the right amount of sweetness? Sometimes the best way to make sure your food is perfect is by making it yourself, and that’s what I’m here for! Let me teach you how to recreate this classic Pinoy appetizer made with pickled green papaya, along with some other delicious ingredients. 

What is Atchara?

Yet to try this simultaneously sweet and sour dish? Well, you might be in for a surprise. One thing I love about Atchara is that it has a very distinct taste that really gives any meal the ability to stand out. It has a satisfying amount of sharpness from vinegar, as well as a strong sugary taste. Most people like to have it on the side because of how it helps clear the palate after quite the flavorful dish. The Filipino term for this is “pantanggal umay.”

But other than this, Atchara is generally just a great way to enhance your dinner guests’ flavor experience. The mix of red bell peppers, papaya and carrots make for great texture too. There are a bunch more components we will need to make the magic happen though. Keep scrolling for the full list of Atchara ingredients!

Atchara Ingredients

As you may have expected, we can’t have our classic Atchara without 3 to 4 lbs. of green papaya we’ve julienned. Next on the list are 2 medium-sized carrots we’ve julienned, 1 large onion we’ve thinly sliced lengthwise, 10 cloves of garlic we’ve also thinly sliced, and 1 large red bell pepper we’ve cut into strips. 

Prepare 2 tablespoons of whole peppercorn, 1 knob of ginger, 2 cups of white vinegar, 1 ⅓ cups of granulated sugar, and 2 small boxes of raisins. We will also be needing ¼ cup of salt for dehydrating the papaya, and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, this time for the brine or syrup.

Let’s get started with this recipe then! Come learn how to put all of these yummy ingredients together for your Atchara.

How to Make Atchara

1. Dehydrating the papaya

For step 1, we will need to put the papaya in a large bowl. Add ¼ cup of salt, and mix these ingredients together until they are distributed evenly. Then cover your bowl, and refrigerate this overnight. This is essential to dehydrating our papaya.

2. Rinsing the papaya

Done with refrigerating the mixture? Go ahead, and put your papaya in a colander or strainer. Rinse this using running water. Then grab a cheesecloth, place your rinsed papaya inside, and squeeze this. Keep doing this until you’ve already gotten all of the liquid out. You may also use any other type of cloth if you do not have cheesecloth.

3. Putting some atchara ingredients together

Let us now transfer the papaya in our large bowl. Toss in your carrots, garlic, ginger, onions, whole peppercorn, bell pepper, and raisins. 

4. Creating the syrup

Get a saucepan, and apply some heat. Once the saucepan is hot, you can pour your vinegar inside. Bring the mixture to a boil before sprinkling in your sugar, as well as 1 ½ teaspoon of salt. Stir everything together until they are well-diluted. Then you can turn the heat off. Just let the syrup cool down until the temperature becomes low enough for you to handle.

5. Refrigerating the atchara

Now you can just take the vegetables and spices you’ve put together, and put them inside a sterilized airtight jar. Then pour your syrup inside. Afterwards, seal the jar, and put this in your refrigerator. We need to keep them here for 5 days to a week to get the texture just right.

How to Serve Atchara

And you’re done making some delightful atchara! All that’s left is to take the jar out of the fridge. You may transfer this to a serving plate of choice, or just keep it on the table so anyone can get more if they would like.

I would suggest eating this with your favorite fried or grilled dishes, and even stews. This is something that I enjoy having with grilled pork and Filipino adobo.

It goes well with crispy pata, longganisa, tocino, and even lechon manok.

How to Store Atchara

Our method of storage is basically the same as step 5 of the recipe. You can simply keep your atchara in an airtight jar, and place this in the refrigerator. But did you know this can stay safe for eating for around 2 months? Feel free to take the jar out of the fridge whenever you are craving some refreshingly tasty Atchara!

Now you know how to whip up some delicious atchara to bring to the next family gathering! Should you be looking for more Filipino appetizers to recreate, I recommend looking around the Panlasang Pinoy website. And if you’ve got any questions about my recipes, simply leave them in the comments section. I will answer them as soon as I can!

Try this Atcharang Papaya recipe. Let me know what you think.