August 29, 2007
Not-So-Green Mango Salad
When we want to find ripe mangoes - lush, juicy, almost overripe mangoes, in fact - the Mrs. Robinsons of mangoes - all the shelves seem to carry are hard, tart, green mangoes.
But when we're looking for tart, sharp green mangoes - more a vegetable than a fruit, clear and refreshing like citrus - the shelves are full of fragrant, sweet, tender mangoes that probably don't even exist except for those times when we're searching for the green ones.
Why do mangoes mock us so?
Whatever the reason, that's our excuse for bringing you a not-so-green mango salad today, instead of the Burmese green mango salad we'd intended to create. Made with mangoes that were somewhat unripe, firm and tasty without the dripping lushness or sharp tanginess of either extreme, this salad pops with fish sauce and sesame oil, sharpened with lime juice, and it has a satisfying crunch of raw red cabbage.
Not-So-Green Mango Salad
2 mangoes (green or verging towards unripe, at least), julienned
1 head red cabbage, julienned
6 hungarian wax peppers or similar green chilies, minced
3 shallots, minced
1 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
1 tsp sesame oil, or to taste
1 tsp palm sugar, or to taste
4 limes worth of lime juice, or to taste
Stir all ingredients together. Optionally, you can add in some shrimp paste or ground tiny dried shrimp. Enjoy!
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bring on the salted fermented shrimp paste! mmmm...bagoong
For those who haven't prepared fresh mango before, be careful of the skin; it exudes a sap that sometimes causes rashes or other allergic reactions, like poison ivy. (Mango is actually related to poison sumac.) Even if your hands don't react to it, consuming the peel or sap can make your mouth swell up. Wear gloves to remove the peel and then rinse the peeled fruit under running water to remove all traces of the sap before eating.