After three weeks of being on the road – first in California, then Miami, and then Las Vegas – I was really craving something light. Something healthy. Refreshing. Cleansing.
Not that I didn’t enjoy to the fullest extent those fantastic soup dumplings, melt-in-your-mouth fatty tuna, or cavier topped dishes (more on that soon, I promise!). Not at all. But a girl can only do that for so long before her stomach and her mind get a little overwhelmed. Not to mention the belt buckle!
So the tired belly craved something clean. Something light and tart.
Oh I forgot. It’s winter. And there’s anything but an abundance of fresh produce right now here in the cold Northeast.
But wait. I remember a delightful dish that my mom taught me how to make when I was home in Ohio last October. This dish is great because it’s made with green, unripened mangoes. Similar in concept to the green tomato, a green mango is just a really hard mango that has not ripen yet. And since it’s winter, all of the fruit in the market is shipped from Mexico anyway, so they probably aren’t “vine-ripen” by any extent.
This recipe works best with rock-hard totally unripen mangoes.
Using a peeler (or a knife), peel thin slices of mango into a bowl. You can see from the picture that some of these slices are yellow/orange. I made a mistake and picked out one mango that was a bit too ripe. Ideally, they would all be a pretty light shade. Add salt (about 1/2 tsp? – I didn’t measure), and mix throughout. Let it sit for at least 15-20 minutes so that the water can come out.
See how the water is coming out? Drain off the liquid and squeeze the mango slices to make sure you get out as much water as possible. I actually drained it in a colander and then pressed on the mango slices a bit to squeeze out more liquid. It’s similar to the way you would make a marinated cucumber salad.
Finally, toss with some sesame oil and cilantro, and salt to taste. That’s it! It’s so easy. And the flavors work surprisingly well together. If you use really raw mangoes, sometimes your guests will not even be able to guess what they are eating. It’s crisp, tangy, fresh, slightly crunchy, and a perfect antidote to the heavy, buttery dishes from the holiday season.
Enjoy!
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The pic was so awesome. It looked golden, buttery and so enticing, almost like a dessert. I’ll give this a try during summer.
Lovely! Such a vibrant photo and it screams HEALTHY!! Excellent choice after such a wealth of rich, amazing foods.
interesting. i had no idea you could make use of unripe mangoes.
This looks great, so healthy and refreshing after so many weeks of eating sweets and rich foods. And so pretty!
Looks delicious. But ripe mangoes are so good, I dunno if I’d ever forgo them to make a green mango salad. Hrmmmm…
oh wow, i never like to buy rock hard mangoes, but now i’m going to have to give this a try 🙂
Your pictures look beautiful! I love mango in salad. They are so sweet and flavorful.
I’ve been seeing a lot of mangoes at the grocery store lately. I’ll have to give this a try.
Do you think lemon or lime juice would pair well also?
Thanks everyone for the kind comments.
Sean – you can definitely try adding lime or lemon juice. Keep in mind that ripe green mangoes are a bit tart, so it might make it super sour! My guess is that the lime or lemon would go really well with slightly more ripe mangoes, but give it a try! I’d be curious to see what you think. 🙂
Oooooh, I can’t wait to make this! One of my favorite thai dishes is a green mango salad, but it is way more complicated to make.
this looks easy enough even i can’t mess up =)
Jen, I really like this post! I’m going to pick up some green mango’s this week. I’ve also heard of fermenting green mango’s. Have you heard of this?
Green mangoes are a favorite. After eating ripe mangoes for 2 week, I’m now craving for green mangoes and this is a great recipe to try.
Bravo, Bros! keep going like this, more good info again.
I really love mango in salad. I like to eat mango and these photo looking very cool and that mango recipe so healthy and refreshing after so many weeks of eating sweets and rich food.
It looking very outstanding.. I like that loon i am so excited for eating Green mango salad and also salad is very healthy for health.
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