When I was young, we had a mango tree (with 3 other fruit trees) in our first house with huge land space. After we moved to a house with only enough space for 1 tree, my mama chose to plant a guava tree. Yet, we were lucky to be showered with many variety of fruits (including mangoes) from relatives and friends’ garden. Now staying in high rise apartment, how I miss those days.. that’s one of the trade-offs for living in a metropolitan city.
It’s no doubt mangoes are in season now as you could hear the fruit sellers at the night market yelling out loud peddling their mangoes, trying to outwit each other to get customers to their stall. I’m lucky to have a ‘specialised’ fruit seller parked outside my apartment, he only make an appearance when it’s local fruit season – be it mangosteen, durian or langsat. Talk about being spoilt rotten. When 2 of the mangoes I recently bought were unripe, what better use for them than making Thai Mango Salad.
Thai Mango Salad & Papaya Salad (Som Tam) share pretty much the same ingredients – sweet, sour, spicy and crunchy. I have yet to have a chance to make Som Tam, did not have the luck to get unripe papaya where I live.
This refreshing Mango Salad features thin strips of under-ripe mango tossed in a tangy dressing that features all of the flavours of Thai cooking. The dressing is tart from fresh lime juice, salty from fish sauce, spicy from chilies and sweet from brown sugar. The finishing touch is a sprinkling of crunchy roasted peanuts before serving. To add more texture and crunch, I add in toasted anchovies.
In my hurry to prepare this salad, I forgot to take the instruction photos. So here’s a delish, refreshing salad for you to enjoy.
| Thai Mango Salad |
- 400g Unripe Mango
- 2 Shallots – thinly sliced
- 2 Red Bird Eye’s Chillies
- 3 tablespoon Fish Sauce
- 4 tablespoon Lime Juice
- 20g Dried Shrimps
- 40g Peanuts – toasted
- 3-4 tablespoon Palm Sugar or Brown Sugar
- a handful of Dried Anchovies – toasted, for garnishing (optional)
- Peel the green mango and shred with a zigzag peeler or thinly sliced with a knife.
- Soak the mango slices in ice cold water to make it crispy.
- Slightly crush the chilies, shallots, dried shrimps and peanuts with a pestle & mortar.
- Mix fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar in a small bowl.
- In a big bowl, add in all the ingredients and toss well.
- Garnish with some toasted anchovies. Serve as a side dish.
More Mango Dishes
- Malaysian Mango Chicken (rasamalaysia.com)
- Salmon with Mango & Loquat Sauce (shescookin.com)
- Lettuce Wraps & Mango Salsa (thosesunnydays.blogspot.com)
- Vietnamese Green Mangoes with Chili Salt (whiteonricecouple.com)
Comments
40 responses to “Thai Mango Salad”
Shannon
You want me to buy you unripe papaya?
I drop it in my outlet, you pick up anytime 10am-10pm.
One Utama, paradigm or the mines? Which mall nearer to you?
Thank you Shenny! Happy that you enjoy my blog. My kitchen & fridge is too full with many ingredients (i always end up buying too many things, don’t have so much time to cook all), it’s better I clear them first. Will let you know if I need unripe papaya. thanks again!
didn’t try the papaya salad at royal vietnam, i think vietnamese style is almost similar to thai with the fish sauce. I tried the pomelo salad with carrot & dried cuttle fish, also with fish sauce. can easily replicate at home if got pomelo.
Shannon,
Have tried papaya salad in royal vietnam?we all love it,it’s like lou sang during chinese new year. My husband ask me to do it during chinese new year.I told me that I will make if I got recipe.
I will use this recipe as base to get vietnamese salad.
What a fruitful reading!?
I found so much treasure here.
What a delightful and refreshing salad! I do love mango, and love the flavors you have chosen. The toasted dried anchovies sound really interesting 🙂
Thank you Alisha! Dried seafood is very common is chinese cooking, I think you might find it strange because you are familiar to anchovies in salted brine. I haven’t tasted that type of anchovies before.
I’m sitting here looking at your great pics and thinking about all the marvelous fruits you spoke of. Out of the corner of my eye I also see the mango I bought two weeks that is shriveled. Shame on me! Next time I buy one I know what to do with it.
Sandra, you are such a sweetheart. and don’t be so hard on yourself. You are not the only one that has shriveled fruits in the house, I do have this habit of overstocking my kitchen whenever I go shopping!
Mango is no doubt my favourite ripe or unripe. I love it in every dish.
I’ve always wanted a fruit tree. When we moved to the Middle East we found a house that had date trees, however we were unable to work out a contract to moove into that one. Your salad looks beautitul!
Thank you Alyssa! I would love a date tree in my backyard 😛
This salad is so beautiful and refreshing with lots of Thai hot and sweet flavours. I must say adding dried shrimp into this is a must for this dish. Yum!
Thank you Zoe. Totally agree with you about the dried shrimp!
Wow I love mango and this thai salad looks amazing!!! Wanted to stop by to let you know that I chose you for the Versatile blogger award!
http://www.foodatick.com/2012/04/peanut-butter-and-banana-bread-cupcakes.html
Natalie, thank you for the award!
Shannon, I know what you mean. I had mango trees in my yard and at my school growing up. Mangoes all around. Now that I’m in Canada, mangoes are imported and its just not the same. This is a very interesting recipe to me. Lots of flavours and textures. I’d love to try it! On my latest post, I’ve given you awards because your recipes are so awesome! Check them out here – http://lovelypantry.com/2012/04/food-blogger-fun-and-awards/
Lyn, thank you for the award!
what a great looking recipe! I love all that you post- that is why I nominated you for a Versatile Blogger Award.
Elizabeth, thank you for the award!
One of my favourite salads! We didn’t have any trees in my place when we wer growing up, but my grandpa’s house had a mango, guava and rambutan tree. It was awesome.
glad to hear from you, shaz! yeah any fruit trees in the house is just awesome 🙂
What a delicious looking mango salad – fresh and beautiful colouring!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you Choc Chip Uru!
I like this thai flavored mango salad! I use those dried anchovies for cooking too. They add nice depth in flavor. Sounds very refreshing and delicious!
Totally agree with you, I scatter some dried anchovies into other recipes too
Oh, I would have loved to have a mango tree growing in the backyard, sadly live in the wrong climate for it. This salad sounds so good and fresh!
Well, it’s a trade off.. while you wish for tropical fruits, I wish for grape, strawberry, plum trees in the backyard 🙂
I love the combinations here Shannon!I’m made mango salad before but never tried it with shrimp and Anchoves…have to give this a try soon :)Looks delicious!
it is a fabulous flavour combo, dried shrimp & dried anchovies are very much part of South Asian diet.
Yum, this looks awesome!
thank you! it taste awesome too!
Greek yogurt is much thicker than regular yogurt & the taste is the same.
Oh then you’ve done all the work already! All you need to do is strain it! Get some cheese cloth at a hardware store or maybe grocery store and wrap it tightly around a large jar or bowl and put your yogurt inside. This way the liquid will fall to the bottom of the jar and you will have thick greek yogurt inside the cloth that you just need to scrap out. It will usually reduce the amount of yogurt made to 1/2 though- that is the down side. Here’s a helpful site, there are many more
too
http://www.familyfreshcooking.com/2009/10/28/quick-thick-greek-yogurt/
Yay! that’s super easy! thanks for sharing, will try it next time with my next batch of yogurt
I love the vibrant flavors in this dish!!! I’ll have to wait for mango season to come around by me to make this. I wish I had some now! 🙂
Oh yes the flavours are vibrant & refreshing! soon the mango season will arrive for you 🙂
Don’t think we’ll need a step-by-step for this. We used to have a great big tree that fruits non-stop too and now that we’ve moved to the big city, we also have a tree, half the size and refuses to fruit … sigh. I’d love to have this salad often … but other half isn’t into sour mangos … men!
I’m a very visual person and still learning different cooking methods. very often I get lost reading recipes instructions that I skipped steps! haha. Maybe you can try singing or talking to your tree (therapy helps!).. Well true, it’s us females that enjoy soury food, and pickled things! they don’t know what they are missing 😛
I must say I am def tempted to make this recipe because I love anything thai spiced. However, the mango lassi recipe caught my eye and has been calling my name for some time now. Plus being that I have a lonely mango chobani and some sliced ripe mango, I might have to finally try it. Either way, thanks for a lovely recipe. Oh and I made your sweet potato stacks with some asian flair on them to go with Salmon cakes- so easy and I loved the rustic presentation!
Go ahead with the mango lassi, else it will haunt you in your dreams! 😛 I haven’t heard of mango chobani, and google it to find “mango greek yogurt”! Yum! I wish to have a taste of greek yogurt (we don’t have it where I live). anyway, you will need unripe mango for the mango salad 🙂
Oh you really made my day (after a long hot day) when I read you made the sweet potato stacks 🙂 Nothing makes any blogger happier than knowing their post or recipes have been tried by readers. and their posts are not just for people to read and comment 🙂 {{Hugs}}
Have you ever considered making your own greek yogurt? It is relatively easy if you drink cows milk. I have made it using a very affordable yogurt maker and then you get to add in whatever you want! And yes I will do a post on the stacks soon enough and link your original!
I always my own plain yogurt without a yogurt maker, I have posted the recipe here. but I do not know what is the difference in taste & texture of greek yogurt. maybe you can share with me your recipe?