番木瓜

番 (fān) is the old Chinese prefix for 'foreign / from abroad,' originally referring to non-Han peoples to the south and west. It tags many imported plants: 番茄 (fānqié) tomato, 番薯 (fānshǔ) sweet potato, 番椒 (fānjiāo) chili. 番木瓜 'foreign papaya' distinguishes the New World fruit (introduced via Spanish/Portuguese trade in the 17th century) from the native East Asian 木瓜 (mùguā, Chinese quince), which is unrelated.

In Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Cantonese-speaking areas, plain 木瓜 (mùguā) means papaya. In Mainland mandarin botany and formal contexts 木瓜 properly means Chinese quince and 番木瓜 is the unambiguous papaya. So a Hong Kong menu's '木瓜炖雪耳' is papaya, but a TCM herb pharmacy's 木瓜 is quince.