Mango Salad

Don't Make These Mistakes

Use firm, only just ripe mango.

Dress just before serving.

Taste the dressing on the mango.

Add the peanuts last.

Cooking Mango Salad

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1. Whisk the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chilli until the sugar dissolves.

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2. Toss the mango, carrot, pepper, onion, coriander and mint in a large bowl.

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3. Pour over the dressing, toss and scatter with the peanuts. Serve at once.

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Why It Works

Short and sharp, like the dressing. Thai mango salad is sour, salty, sweet and hot, and it is made with a mango that is firm and only just ripe.

Choose a mango that is yellow-green and still hard to the touch, one that will not be good for eating by itself. Peel it and slice the flesh into thin matchsticks, as you would a carrot. A ripe, soft mango will not hold its shape and turns the salad to mush. Pour the dressing over just before serving. The lime juice softens the mango, and the salad weeps if dressed too soon.

The dressing is lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and chilli, whisked until the sugar dissolves. Taste it on a piece of mango, since the fruit changes the balance. More lime for sourness, more sugar for sweetness, more fish sauce for salt.

Toss the mango with the carrot, pepper, onion and herbs, add the dressing and top with the peanuts. Eat immediately, as a side with grilled meat or fish, or as a light lunch with rice.

Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping

Best eaten at once.

If You're Missing Something

• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the red chilli. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.

What to Serve Alongside

• Grilled fish
• Grilled chicken
• Steamed rice
• Cold beer

The Numbers per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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