Mangos are frustrating

[flyinion]

How on earth do you get the fruit out of these things? It seems like I'm throwing away a good chunk of it.

[Amethyst_Rain]

yeah, mangos can be tricky...make sure they're not over/under-ripe...what i usually do is peel them with a vegetable peeler and then slice away the meat in chunks until i hit the pit...note that mangos do have a very large pit, so you usually don't get much meat from them...hope that helps :)

[Sweet lips]

And then you can suck the rest of it off the pit - (an extension to Amethyst_Rain's post) :D

[twinyoga]

I suck the pit! It's so good and messy!

By the way, I found wonderful frozen mango at Trader Joe's. It's delicious, not messy, and RAW!

[Wendy]

http://www.innerself.com/Transformations/How_To_Eat_A_Mango.htm

[tracyinfo]

Wendy sent a link, so that may give directions on slicing a mango with ease.

But if not, try try again. Because it will become easier. Picture the pit in the mango. Stand the mango on end. Cut off 1/3 of the mango, slicing downward. If you hit the pit, just slice a little away from it. Then slice off the other side. Hopefully after that, you have two halves! I score the mango into cubes, still attached to the skin. Then I turn out the skin concave and eat up the mango (This is how my kids take it to school for lunch). You can also, slice it in the skin, like you would an avocado, and slip the knife between mango and skin, and have perfect slices. Then, I just peel the skin off the inner third with pit, and cut what I can off the pit.

Don't give up, they are too yummy!
-Tracy

[Sharon in Colorado]

This is the way I like to do it. First, I cut off a tiny slice on the end so I can stand it up on the cutting board. Then, I use a veggie peeler to peel off the skin, and then with a sharp knife I cut the 'cheeks' off in large slices as close to the pit as possible. This makes a flat end, so I stand it on that end while I keep slicing all the way around.

[askcassyfirst]

I cut off the two "cheeks", then cut around the pit. These pieces I use a sharp paring knife to peel. The chunks left around the pit I carve off, then knaw on the pit. (A childhood activity, I still like.)

Hope that helps. If it is of any consequence, some varieties have more flesh than others.

Cassy :)

[heather]

i peel the skin and just go for it. i love it when they are dripping down my face and arms...so fun. makes me feel like the carefree child i used to be!! :)

[Helen Of Tennessee]

I do it like most of them. I take a knife and just peel it. Then I cut chunks/slices off onto a small dish, then eat with a fork. I don't care for getting messy and wet :o

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[flyinion]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Yeah I was trying to cut it up to make a mango, papaya, banana fruit salad for lunch yesterday. So one last question here because maybe I'm buying them over-ripe. The ones I buy are soft, or what I think is ripe to me, but halfway to the pit it gets pretty firm. What texture is a ripe mango supposed to actually have?

[Helen Of Tennessee]

I have been so frustrated getting "bad" mangos. I have thrown so many of them away, either because they were so hard, stringy or black spots in them. The last few I've gotten have been wonderful and believe it or not we don't peel it until the skin just starts to get a little wrinkle in it and it almost feels like it is too soft, but it comes out so good and juicy. I don't know if this when they are ripe or if this is just the season where the mangos are finally ready and tasty.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[twinyoga]

FYI....here's a lesson I learned on how to buy a perfect mango. When you're looking at them, buy one that has a dried syrup where the stem use to be. If you see that shiny dried syrup, that means that mango was ripened on the tree, not while being shipped around the country. And it is so much better in taste.

A raw person I met a couple years ago taught this to me.

[askcassyfirst]

Debbie, I totally agree with you about that syrupy sap. When I was in the islands, I would have to wash the mangos to be rid of the sap & not attract ants and other bugs. Here in the states, I have never seen a sticky mango! You have given me hope that they are out there somewhere...

Cassy :)