This super simple mango salad slaps on a summer day
Inspired by the classic Thai salad called yum mamuang, this green mango salad is guaranteed to refresh on a hot summer day. Combining sweet and tart flavors from the mangos with brown sugar and lime juice to balance out the hot chilis, then a bit of fish sauce adds some salty umami flavor. This recipe uses green mangoes which are unripe so they have more of a crunch and are not as sweet as a ripe mango. Don’t worry about color when picking a green (unripe) mango, you are just looking for a firm fruit that does not have a strong sweet smell. This salad can be served alone, toss in some shrimp or chicken or serve as a side with fried fish.
Ingredients: Serves 4
For Sauce:
2 tbsp lime juice
2-3 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce (substitute 1/2 teaspoon of salt or another tbsp soy sauce to make this vegan)
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2-3 chopped Thai red chilis or serrano chilis (these are milder). You can also use ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes to replace 1 chilli pepper.
For Salad:
2-3 unripe mangos
1 small red onion
1 red bell pepper (remove seeds)
1 carrot
1 persian or english cucumber
All the above ingredients are julienned (cut into thin spears)
1-2 shallots sliced into thin rings
Vegetable oil (enough to fry the shallots in)
½ cup shelled and roasted peanuts or cashews (chopped)
¼ a cup chopped mint
¼ cup chopped cilantro
NOTE: I like to add the herbs to the sauce so the flavors can mingle but if you don’t plan on serving right away or want to save leftovers then add to salad right before serving instead.
This recipe is super easy to make. First you are going to want to fry the shallots. Thinly slice the shallots into thin rings and heat a couple inches of vegetable oil on high in a medium size frying pan (enough to cover the shallots and keep them from touching the bottom of the pan). Once the oil is bubbling add the shallots and stir them around to keep them from sticking together until they turn a bright golden color, remove from the heat and strain, then spread them out evenly on a paper towel to dry. Now it is time to make the sauce. Slice the chilis lengthwise, remove the seeds and chop finely. Combine all the sauce ingredients into a bowl and mix until the sugar is dissolved – you can add the herbs now or hold for the salad. Taste and see if you need more salt (fish sauce or soy), sweet (brown sugar), tangy (lime juice) or spicy (chilis) and adjust. Set the sauce aside. Now slice and dice up your salad ingredients. Cutting mangos can be tricky: peel the fruit, hold the mango straight up and slice lengthwise down the four sides leaving you with two large chunks and two smaller chunks. Discard the pit and julienne the remaining mango. Toss it all together in a large bowl, don’t forget the fried shallots and the herbs (if you did not put those in the sauce already). Add the dressing right before serving. If you are going to be making the salad ahead or plan on saving leftovers, store the dressing, herbs and nuts all separate and this baby can keep in the fridge for about 3 days.
Main Image Ke Watts
