If you don’t know what atchara is exactly, it is pickled papya, carrots, ginger, onions, garlic, and bell peppers. It is usually served along with something meaty and fatty, like longganisa or bbqs. I tell friends it’s like the Korean version of pickled daikon that accompanies KFC and bbq because like pickled daikon it is sweet and sour, and has a nice crunch to it. You can also eat atchara as is if you are really into pickled foods. We also use atchara to put on top of hot dogs and burgers in the summer instead of relish–it’s a pretty versatile topping.
My mom makes atchara every couple of months, depending on how many jars she gives away to friends and family as gifts. If you come over to visit, there’s a good chance you’ll leave with a jar of atchara. She prefers making it herself because she claims the store bought atchara is soggy and doesn’t taste as good. It takes a lot of work to do, but to her it is worth it instead of just buying it at the Filipino/Asian grocery store. We were down to our last half jar of atchara, and so it was time to make a new batch.
There’s no way around this, but prepping for atchara sucks. Julienne cutting tons of vegetables sucks. You can use the grater in your food processor to do the majority of work for you though. Another short cut we do is buying julienned unripe papaya and carrots from a local Vietnamese market. It cuts down a lot of time on our part, but if you don’t have access a grater works well too. But it’s worth it cause you do have months worth of pickled veggies.
This recipe is for a large batch of atchara that will yield about 15 1.5L mason jars. I would ordinarily try to cut this down to something more reasonable for a normal household, but the Filipino way is to always cook to feed the entire village. Because I haven’t tested the recipe to a smaller scaled batch I am publishing my mom’s large batch recipe as is. Atchara can be stored at room temperature in a cool, dark, dry place. Once opened, keep in the refrigerator. If you don’t have room to store 15 fairly large mason jars, these make great gifts for friends (my kids and I walked to our neighbors to deliver jars of atchara).
I hope you enjoy!
Atchara
A pickled papaya, carrot, ginger, onion, garlic, and bell pepper side dish that goes great with fatty Filipino main dishes.
Ingredients
- 6 lbs. unripe papaya, grated or julienned
- 3 lbs. carrots, grated or julienned
- 7 large yellow onions, grated or julienned
- 1 lb. ginger, julienned
- 4 red bell peppers, julienned
- 4 green bell peppers, julienned
- 7 heads of garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 cup salt
- 2.5L distilled white vinegar
- 9 cups sugar
- ~15 1.5L mason jars
Directions
- Step 1 In a large bowl, mix papaya and salt. Then let sit for 15 minutes.
- Step 2 Toss papaya mixture again to check if papayas are releasing water. If not, add a little more salt.
- Step 3 Take handfuls of papaya and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. You can use a cheese cloth to help. Place in a new large bowl.
- Step 4 Continue to squeeze water out of papaya in batches. Discard water.
- Step 5 In a large pot, dissolve sugar in vinegar over medium high heat.
- Step 6 While vinegar and sugar are warming up, toss carrots and papayas until well mixed.
- Step 7 When sugar is dissolved, add ginger, garlic, onion, and bell peppers.
- Step 8 Cook vegetables for about 10 minutes, until peppers are slightly soft but still crunchy.
- Step 9 Take vegetable and brine liquid and slowly add to bowl with papayas and carrots.
- Step 10 Toss until all vegetables are evenly mixed.
- Step 11 Cool pot over a large batch of ice, making sure that no ice or water gets into vegetables.
- Step 12 Cool for about 1-2 hours.
- Step 13 Sterilize mason jars and lids.
- Step 14 When vegetables and liquid have cooled, begin placing in jars. Making sure to add enough liquid to cover vegetables.
- Step 15 Store in a dark, cool, dry place. Once opened, keep in refrigerator.
