One great thing about living in the sweltering Vietnam climate is that the fruit is great all year around!  

 

The papaya has its roots in Central America, now spreads throughout South-East Asia. The papaya tree bears only either male or female flowers, only female trees produce fruits.

Papaya is sold all year round, especially in the south.

To eat: divide the fruit in half, use a spoon to scoop out the seeds, peel them, slice or dice. Papaya and the old Viet Nam life also play the main role in the movie “The The Scent of Green Papaya” (Tran Anh Hung, 1993) 

 

The fruits are large, weighing up to 9 kg and often look like a large squash. The skin is thin and turns from green to yellow and orange as the fruit ripens.

The flesh of the papaya may be yellow, orange, or reddish orange and has a consistency of a very ripe cantaloupe. Papayas are sweet and are used as dessert.
Papaya is nowadays widely consumed as fresh fruit because of the smooth sweet and slightly sour taste when it is ripe.

In Vietnam, a popular dish using green papaya is "gỏi đu đủ bò khô", a salad like dish with shredded green papaya and shredded beef jerky, eaten with a special hot sauce. 

In southern part of Viet Nam, one of the popular varieties of papaya is the one with red, thick pulp that has a fragrance but contains less sugar.

This species is grown in the Mekong Delta Region. In the North, papaya is also cultivated, but due to the colder climate, fruits take a longer time to ripen.

Source: http://www.vietnam.com

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