Delicious Mango Salad... My Way

Once my class was given a question by our English teacher. In the midst of her teachings she asked us, to correct this - " There are man goes (man-goes) on the tree". It's her way to jolt us from our 'dreamland' or she must had noticed someone or some of us nearly dozed off...:-D Her class is not boring at all, really... but after good lunch and windy fan spinning above our heads, the time for siesta in us sets in... :-D

Mentioned the word m-a-n-g-o would make anyone swooned and salivating! Everyone will have their favourites... I love Black Gold, Chukanan, Waterlily to name a few. The mango fruit can be use in several ways; as desserts like well known Thailand's  Khao Neow Mamuang (Sticky Rice with Mango), use unripe in savoury salad or as pickle sold by road side vendors, dipped in sour plum powder in Southeast Asian countries. Trust me, it's so...soooo (drooling) deliciously fresh and when you dip the crunchy slices into the sour plum powder... mmmm.... then put into mouth ... crunch... mmm....mmm... IT's better than chomping chips & crackers minus the calories!

My Way Mango Salad

Serves 2-4

2 nos Half Ripe Mangoes 

1 cup Basil Leaves- firmly packed and roughly chopped (Any basil will do. In this recipe I used Thai Sweet basil from my pot.)

2-3 Fresh Red Chillies

4-8 Small Red Shallots-remove skin and slice thinly

1/4 cup of Thai Fish Sauce (Nam Pla) or more to your taste

2 nos Limes- juice only

Lime zests (optional)

Raw Cane Sugar to taste (you can use white sugar too)

Method:

1. Remove the skin of mangoes. Slice the mangoes about 0.50 cm thin slices along the fruit until your knife touches the seed. Do the same for the other side of the mango. (Reserve the seed to eat what's left later :-D). Roughly cut the mangoes into matchstick sizes. 

Note: Any type of half ripe mangoes can be use. Just beware that although Black Gold mangoes (Tong Dum in Thai) has dark green outer skin but inside is actually ripe with sweet orangy succulent flesh. Only way to tell if it's ripe is the yellow tinge at the stem part and to lightly touch/press the fruit to feel if is soft for ripeness.

2. In a bowl: Slice chillies in halves and remove the seeds from chillies if you don't want that hot. Thinly sliced the chillies. You can also roughly chop the chillies without removing the seeds but then you will end up eating seeds as well.

3. Add in the fish sauce, basil leaves, chilli and some sugar. Mix well and taste if you need to add in more sugar or fish sauce...

4. Pour in Lime juice little bit at first. Taste accordingly to your preference ( I used all 2 Limes plus the zest as well.) Add in more if you like more sourness. Add in the cut mangoes and stir well until well coated with the sauce.

Serve as side dish to rice, grill meat, seafood... even as toppings for steam fish to give it extra zing!

Note: You can prepare the sauce and the fruits in advance but don't mix them too early because mangoes will wilt and losing it's crunchiness. You will end up with soggy salad instead. 

You can also add in fried dried shrimp into this salad but I didn't use it because some people dislike dried shrimps and said it made the salad kinda oily & cloudy

Thai Sweet Basil (Horapa)

Thai Sweet Basil or 'Horapa' is one of the common cultivar group of basil. It's a common herb used widely in Southeast Asia region especially in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It's easy to grow them from the cuttings you purchased off the supermarket shelves. Just soak the cuttings in some clean water and change the water every 2 -3 days until you can see some rootings protruding from the stems. Then you plant it in quality soil in pots or garden. I planted in large pots with organic soil by itself because they root very fast and  agressively just like Lemongrass. Their roots will 'choke' other plants so, it's advisable to let them have their own territory...To have more leaves, cut the flowers off before they bloom or you can add the flowers to your Thai recipes or salad -  the colorful pinkish-white flowers add another dimension to your dishes! By the way, different species of basil has different color of flowers, smell/fragrance and leaf textures. For example, the Basilicum that is common in Europe has white flowers and broad green, soft leaves and lesser anise taste compared to Southeast Asian varieties.

Here's one my pots of Thai Basil with it's flowers and green-purple leaves...

The tiny seeds can be made into Basil Seed drinks (Nam Mangklak) like Falooda or Sherbet/Sharbat, you can mix it with honey or Bubble Tea... I also like mine added to fresh coconut juice with a little bit of rose syrup. It's also a common remedy for fever or during hot season to cool down the body heat and aids digestion. Besides it's important usage in various cuisines and in essential oils, basil plays important role in cultural aspects of ancient civilisations, even today, it's highly regard in religions and beliefs...

Another FUN part is... the basil seeds looked like frog's eggs because the seeds became gelatinous when soaked in water with its' tiny black dot in the centre, wobbly,oogly... ok, ok, ok no more details... :-D

Oh, have a read of Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron and John Keats' narrative poem Isabella or The Pot of Basil. 

One thing for sure, basil is always welcome in my kitchen and its within reach means I can enjoy my favourite Basil dishes anytime I want... from simple sambal or salad to fried rice! The choices are endless...