With summer's rich bounty of fruits, the onus is on me to dream up new ways to use the fruit. Munching on them alone is fine, but some fruits, like mangoes, beg to be gussied up. Per Nick's request, it's usually in the form of mango chicken — a quick stir-fry of chicken, onions and garlic, topped off with mangoes, cilantro and lime juice, served over jasmine rice. But it's hot. Dreadfully so. And so, along the lines of sweating out the heat with heat, I bring you Thai mango salsa. We had it with chips before a meal, but it would also be great over simple grilled fish, chicken, pork or steak (did I leave anything out?).
I normally stick to my tried-and-true system — adding jalapeno, red onion, lime juice and cilantro to a fruit (cantaloupe, honeydew, peaches, almost anything). But with Thai basil flourishing (the only thing flourishing) in the backyard and soon-to-be soft Thai chilies in the fridge, I headed east.
Thai mango salsa
2 fresh mangoes, diced*
1 red Thai chili, sliced very thin**
3 stalks of Thai basil
1/4 of medium red onion, diced
juice of 1 lime
salt
Pull the leaves from the Thai basil stalks and give them a rough chop. Combine mango, chili, Thai basil leaves, onion and lime juice in a bowl. Add a pinch (or two) of salt to taste. Best to let sit around in the fridge for a few hours so the flavors can get to know one another.
*Elise, from Simply Recipes has a great post about how to cut a mango if you're unfamiliar.
** I used one Thai chili and would've been happy with a bit more heat. Some folks in my family found it almost too hot with just one chili. Ditching the seeds will decrease the heat as well.
4 comments:
Did you know that mango is related to poison ivy? The skin secretes uruishiol just like poison ivy. So if you're very allergic to poison ivy, the lesson is, don't rub your face into the mango stand at the grocery. I discovered this the hard way the day before graduation in 2007. Except, I was just eating them right off the peel (not rubbing my face in the stand at Wards). As much as I love mangoes, I'm afraid to eat them to this day.
No, I did not. That is freaky deaky -- and only my ag-comm superstar would know all that. Did you end up all red and puffy faced from the experience? I'm sad for your mango loss though. They are so yummy this time of year, and I am able to get super-local (and free) ones from all my friends who have trees in their yards.
and this is one delicious salsa!! especially for us mango lovers.
My lips swelled up and my eyes got puffy. I've had mango semi-inadvertently in some dishes and didn't have a reaction, so it's probably just from the peel. I'm super jealous you get them from free from friends. And that you can eat them without fear!
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