Mangoes

Mangoes!!!! I love mangoes! I know there's many different types of mangoes, but my favorite by far are Philippine mangoes. So sweet and juicy. They usually come out during the summer months in the Philippines (meaning April, May and June). This year, though, the mangoes seem to have decided to make an early appearance. 

In the Philippines, there two commonly sold mangoes in the market: ripe mangoes and unripe mangoes. The third type sold in the market are called Indian mangoes and are generally eaten the same way an unripe Philippines mango is eaten. The biggest difference between these two mangoes is that Indian mangoes are smaller and can 

Ripe mango. Notice how beautifully yellow it is.

To eat the ripe Philippine mango, one need only to slice it correctly and scoop the flesh of the fruit out. Sounds easy? It certainly is! To find out where to slice, lay the fruit on a flat surface, like a table or a counter top. Your knife must be parallel to the side on which the mango lies. This means that your knife will be parallel to the flat side of the seed of the mango. Start with a small incision at the top of the mango, near where the mango would have been attached to a branch. Then gently slice down the mango. Don't worry and let the seed of the mango will be your guide. Repeat this step on the other side of the seed. You'll end up with something that looks like this: (The one of the left is the fleshy side and the one on the right is the seed)

Fleshy portion

Seed portion

Now, sometimes people want their mangoes to come in cubes, so they will make lengthwise and crosswise cuts on the fleshy portion of the mango. This way, you can simply invert the skin of the mango and little mango cubes will pop out. What about the mango seed? What should you do with it? Personally, I love sucking the flesh out of it. 

Unripe mango

Now, onto the unripe mango. The first step to eating it, is peeling it. Use a small paring knife or a vegetable peeler. Then, cut it the same way you would a ripe mango, so that you separate the fleshy from the seed. At this point, you can either cut the flesh into sticks, like crudites or dice it up for mango salsa. The important thing to remember about unripe mangoes is that they are very sour. So, if you plan on eating them like crudites, pair them some Filipino shrimp paste or bagoong. The saltiness of the bagoong will balance out the extreme tang of the mango. If bagoong is not for you (oh no!), you can pair your mangoes with an equal mixture of salt and sugar. Enjoy your mangoes!

Mango Salsa

1 unripe mango, peeled and diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 tomato, diced

1 teaspoon sugar (if needed)

salt to taste

In a bowl, mix the mango, onion and the tomato. If the mango is too sour, add the sugarSeason to taste and serve cold.