Milky Papaya Soup

I usually plan what I want to cook for the week on Sunday, noting them down in my little cooking notebook, and then listing down the ingredients I need to buy on a separate piece of marketing list. This week I'll be cooking mostly soup meals, since the weather is turning cooler so a bowl of hot soup for dinner would certainly be comforting.

For tonight, I started off with what is commonly called milky papaya soup, though there are other additional ingredients that are no less important. Below are the ingredients (tofu is not inside the picture, though): half ripe hawaiian papaya, two red tomatoes, an ear of pearl corn (aka Jagung Mutiara from Cameron highlands), and two fresh water prawns (caught by me during last Friday's prawning activity organised by my company).

I used the soup stock I prepared earlier using pork ribs and anchovies, bring it to a boil, then put in the cut papaya cubes and corns to let them simmer for a while, followed by cut tomatoes and peeled prawns, bring it to another boil, then added Anlene milk and vermicelli. When the broth is cooked, simply scoop the hot contents into a bowl with tofu and you're ready to tuck in.

Though I didn't use any extra seasoning, the soup tasted sweet and appetizing. Hubby liked the pearl corn cooked more than the raw piece I reserved for him to try, which in my opinion tasted just as nice and juicy. He didn't recognise the papaya at first, thinking it was potato cubes until he took a bite. Whoever said that papaya has to be red in color? I like my soup to be colorful as well as delicious, you know...

Note: There's so much corn silk from the pearl corn, I decided to make a drink from it. I learned that there are health benefits from corn silk drink, some of which are reducing stone formation in kidneys, clear boils, eases PMS, and is a diuretic, etc.

If you'd like to try the recipe, go here.