Papaya Milk

Papaya milk is a fruity shake made by blending ripe, freshly cut papaya with chilled milk and sugar syrup in a high-speed blender, thick and creamy, orange in colour, with papaya and milk weaving together.

Papaya milk has several origin claims across Taiwan (Taichung, Changhua and Kaohsiung each have founding shops), but Kaohsiung is one of its chief strongholds: the Kaohsiung Milk King chain, founded in 1966, rose in the Yancheng district selling papaya milk, and Zheng Lao Brand opened in 1965, making papaya milk the emblematic drink of Kaohsiung's streets and Liuhe Night Market.

Usually ordered to go in a plastic cup and drunk freshly blended, cold and rich, it is the thirst-quenching sweet drink carried through Liuhe and Ruifeng night Markets, often taken as an after-meal dessert or afternoon treat.

The thick, fruity milk-shake texture, the bright orange colour and the freshly-blended-to-order street feel are the marks of Kaohsiung papaya milk.