Add colour and natural sweetness with these easy recipes and tips on how to eat mangoes, including a delicious mango salsa. You can add mango to so many dishes and look like a star in the kitchen with no effort at all. Everyone will love the flavour burst of mango salsa, mango in a salad or drink or a delicious mango trifle. Here are five ways to eat mango that will become your favourite kitchen hacks.
Ripe mangos are a little later this year because it’s been cold and wet, but according to Harris Farm Markets CEO Tristan Harris, fruit that stays on the tree longer develops more flavour. He says these sweet, tree-ripened mangoes will be worth the wait. New varieties are coming too, with the quirky names of Yess, Ahh and Gee! If you are keen to save a few dollars and don’t mind smaller mangoes or skins with blemishes (you don’t eat the skin anyhow), Harris Farms’ Imperfect Picks are a great choice.
Beth Davis from Harris Farm Markets with mangoes IMAGE: Josh Woning
How to eat mangoes
A good mango is a fruit from the gods. Its warm yellow flesh is deliciously firm and yet tender, sweet and aromatic. No stringy bits are allowed!
In Queensland, where I live, mangos grow in the backyard. Bang, roll, roll, roll, pause and splat! That’s the noise a mango makes when it drops from the lofty height of a tree branch onto the tin roof of a Queenslander home, rolls down the steeply pitched roof, hits the gutter and flies over to land, smashed on the concrete path. Imagine this takes place in the middle of the night, with the sound of a possum who must be wearing work boots, following it.
My relationship with mangoes is love/hate. I love to eat them, love their glossy green leaves and welcoming cool shade but hate the noise of dropping mangoes and the mess. We just won’t mention the year both giant mango trees fruited so well we could do nothing but put the excess into the wheelie bin. Unfortunately, we found out a wheelie bin fully loaded with mangoes is too heavy for a garbage truck to lift. Off to the dump for us!
The lush green leaves of a mango tree have been my companion for the past 30 years. Some of the trees have produced great fruit, but others planted back in Brisbane’s early days were what locals call ‘turpentine’ mangoes. I don’t need to describe why.
These are my five favourite ways to enjoy a mango, especially the so-easy mango salsa.
Diced mango
You can add diced mango to a salad, pop in on top of your breakfast cereal, or serve it with ice cream for dessert. This is the no-frills version for a slightly chilled straight-from-the-fridge mango. Cut off each mango cheek and score in a grid, just like the image above. Push the back of the skin, and, hey presto, the mango pops. The cubes of mango flesh are easy to eat or pop into a fruit salad. I like to have a cubed mango in the fridge to have with breakfast.
The other way is to slice off each cheek of the mango and then peel off the skin so you have a clean piece of fruit. I use this method when I am using mango in a salad, and I want it to blend in with the other ingredients. Don’t forget to suck the flesh off the seed, best done standing over the sink.
This mango salsa recipe is so easy to make it will become a regular on your home menu.
Mango Salsa
This simple salsa is a delicious and easy flavour boost to many meals. It goes particularly well with grilled meat, chicken or fish. You can also add it to rice paper rolls or spread it on a sandwich as a condiment. Make it ahead and store in the fridge. It will keep for a couple of days.
Ingredients
- 1 mango
- 3 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- Chopped mint and or coriander to taste
- Optional – if you like chilli you can also add freshly chopped chilli to the recipe to taste.
Method
Peel and chop a mango finely. Add the sweet chilli sauce and fish sauce. Add some chopped mint and coriander if you have it.
Mango Chicken Salad
There’s definitely an affinity between chicken and mango. My favourite easy-peasy salad includes a packet of salad mix from the supermarket, the shredded meat of a barbecued chicken (not too finely shredded), avocado and red capsicum sliced long ways, a mango sliced the same, some Persian fetta, a small handful of roasted pumpkin seeds and maybe some black olives. I then drizzle over caramelised balsamic dressing. You could substitute prawns for the chicken and use a Thai dressing. Some finely sliced kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil would be a nice addition.
Mango trifle is great for breakfast
Mango Breakfast Trifles
These are surprisingly filling, so don’t overdo it. Grab a wine glass or other attractively shaped glass and chop a mango per person or between two people. Layer the mango, toasted muesli, and mango yoghurt (either buy mango yoghurt or mix mango into plain yoghurt). Add a layer of chopped mint and macadamia nuts if you have them. This is so delicious you may never want to go out for breakfast again.
Prawn and Mango Vietnamese Salad. IMAGE Harris Farms
Easy Prawn and Mango Vietnamese Salad
Mango is such a great addition to a salad, particularly where there are prawns and the salty flavour of fish sauce. Put this on your list for hot summer days when you need a light and refreshing meal.
Mango Mojitos
For a refreshing drink that gives the normal mojito an interesting twist, try a mango mojito. Imagine this on a hot summer’s day while relaxing on the deck or beside the pool. Bliss!
- For each glass, muddle three lime wedges, 6-8 mint leaves and a few chunks of mango.
- Add crushed ice, a shot of vodka, sugar syrup (see recipe below) to taste and top with soda water.
- Garnish with a spring of mint and slices of mango.
- Sugar syrup: combine 1/2 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup water in a saucepan and simmer for 7 minutes. Cool before using.
Mangoes are one of Australia’s favourite fruits
Aussies indulge in an estimated 200 million mangoes every year. The Australian mango season starts in early September and peaks from the end of October. While the first mangoes come from the Northern Territory, Queensland produces most of the crop.
The popular Kensington Pride variety (commonly known as the Bowen) starts the season and stays available until early the following year. In October, the Calypso® and R2E2 varieties appear on shelves and are followed shortly after by Honey Gold mangoes in November. The four main varieties are available until the end of January, when the Keitt, Palmer and Kent varieties appear in shops through to the end of the season.
Keep cooking and surprise them with this delicious strawberry roulade.
