Mangoes are a delicious snack with amazing health benefits. They are high in Vitamin C, which help strengthen the immune system, enzymes, which helps aid in digestion, antioxidants, which help fight cancer, and Vitamin A, which promotes good eye sight. Did you also know that mangoes are known as the “love fruit” and an aphrodisiac? This is because the abundant presence of Vitamin E which boosts virility in men. Mangoes are found native to South Asia and are used for a variety of dishes from desserts, salads, salsas, smoothies and even as a dressing for chicken and fish.
Some people are intimidated by mangoes as they are unsure as to how to prepare them. Cutting a mango doesn’t have to be difficult. Mangoes are one of the easiest fruits you can cut and require little to no knife skills. Don’t deprive yourself of this yummy, exotic treat and follow these easy steps on how to cut a mango in only one minute. Make sure you pick out a mango that is ripe. Just push down on the skin and if it leaves a dent, then your mango is ready to slice. If the mango is still too firm, just leave it out for a few days to ripen first. Just remember that the riper it is, the sweeter it is.
- There is a big seed or pit in the middle of the mango. You will want to slice the mango vertically as close to the seed as possible on one side.
2. Slice the other side of the mango so you end up with three pieces (two end pieces and one middle piece with the seed). Try to stay as close to the pit as possible so you get more meat.
3. Take one of the end pieces and score three lines across to divide it into three equal parts. You are only cutting the flesh of the mango and keeping the skin intact. Do not cut all the way through.
4. Now score horizontally across the slices you’ve already made three times again to create a crosshatch. You should end up with a bunch of squares.
5. Now push the back skin of the mango so that the flesh of the fruit pops up and the pieces separate into cubes.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 on the other piece you cut from the mango. You should end up with two identical pieces like this.
7. Using either a peeler or a knife peel the skin off the middle piece (the seed or pit piece). You can stop here if you like and just gnaw on the seed piece or move on to step 8 for one extra step. Depends on your eating preferences.
8. Slice the remaining flesh off the seed. Try to remove as much flesh as possible so you’re not wasting anything. You should end up with two pieces on either side of the seed.
9. Enjoy your yummy mango. You can either peel the mango pieces off the skin or just eat them straight off the peel. The mango cubes should come off relatively easily without wasting any of that precious meat. If they don’t come off easily, you can either use your knife or if that makes you nervous, just use a spoon to scrape off the cubes.
Try these easy recipes that feature mango:
Try it with sticky rice, topped with coconut milk and sesame seeds – a sweet Thai-Lao dessert
Mango also goes really well with fish or chicken.
Bon Appetit!
How do you cut and eat your mango? There are a few different ways to prepare and eat a mango. This method is just the easiest and quickest way to do it.
