An Australian common name for yellow-fleshed pawpaw / papaya — used distinctly from "red papaw" in Australian markets to indicate the milder, less-perfumed variety.
A naming convention
In Australia, especially Queensland and the Northern Territory, papaw (also spelled pawpaw) is the everyday name for Carica papaya. Markets distinguish two types by flesh color:
- Yellow papaw — pale yellow flesh, milder, slightly drier, less perfumed.
- Red papaw — orange-pink flesh, sweeter, more aromatic, the “Hawaiian-style” papaya.
The names are imprecise — both are the same species — but Australian shoppers ask for one or the other, and supermarkets stock them separately.
Don’t confuse with the North American pawpaw
The American pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a completely unrelated temperate-climate tree fruit native to the eastern United States, with custard-like flesh tasting of mango and banana. It’s only confusingly named identically. Australian papaw has nothing to do with American pawpaw.
How to use the yellow type
Because it’s milder and slightly less sweet, yellow papaw works well in:
- Breakfast bowls with yogurt and lime juice (lime brightens the flavor).
- Green papaya salad — many Australian cooks use slightly-underripe yellow papaw as the som tum base.
- Smoothies — thinner-bodied than red.
- Savory salsas — its mildness lets it pair with chili and fish sauce without overwhelming.
Latex and skin
Like all papayas, the unripe yellow papaw produces a milky latex when cut. The latex contains papain and can irritate skin in some people; gloves are common in commercial harvesting.
Find more foods by letter
Yellow Papaw starts with Y and ends with W. Browse other foods along the same letter.
Foods that contain a letter from "Yellow Papaw":