One of my clients recently asked me, “Sarah, how do you cut and peel a mango? I never know quite how to do it”.
Have you ever felt this way? I sure did once upon a time.
Do you pass by the mangoes in the grocery story because you are unsure how to pick out a good one? Or maybe you don’t feel confident in how to peel it once you get it home. Can you relate? This was totally ME! But, I have had a lot of practice now and would love to share some tips with you.
Its mid May here now in Colorado and we have access to wonderful mangoes in our grocery stores called Ataulfo, Honey or Champagne mangoes. They are yellow/orange, smallish in size, and they have a small hook at one end of the mango. They sort of look like those candy marshmallow peeps.
*The mangos pictured below look a bit unripe actually. A ripe one will usually be a beautiful golden color.
So now that you know what you are looking for in the grocery store, go get yourself some ataulfo mangoes and let them ripen up. In my experience it can take anywhere from 3-10 days for them to ripen.
Now, if you are ready to learn how to peel the mango here are some tips. You must have a RIPE mango. The technique I will show you in the video below will not work if you have a hard, unripe mango. Most mangoes that are ripe will be soft, yield to pressure, smell sweet, or be the correct color. Google says there are over 1000 varieties of mango, so you can see how I cannot tell you the specific ripeness qualifications, since they differ by the variety. So just do your best and check when you feel confident it might be ready based on its softness.
Next check out my video where I show you how to cut and peel the ataulfo mango with a paring knife and a sturdy pint glass. Are you ready? Let’s get started!