I can't decide

[LucyStoner]

If people who can easily and efficiently cut up a mango are incredibly gifted or are just plain magic.

 

I swear it's waste 1/4 of the fruit or lose a finger or two.

 

Still, the grilled mango salsa I made for dinner will be tasty and fortunately finger tip free.

 

And seriously magical or gifted peeps...mango cutting tips welcomed. Please and thank you!

Edited May 11, 2016 by LucyStoner

[happi duck]

I vote magic!

[regentrude]

Cut mango in (almost) halves, keeping knife as close as possible to the flat side of the seed (that's why "almost", so its the major part of the fruit each side of the seed.)

Hold mango half, skin towards palm of your left hand, flesh up. With sharp knife, make parallel incisions 1-2 cm apart, lengthwise, cutting through to the skin, but not through the skin.

Repeat incisions crosswise.

Turn mango skin "inside out", i.e. flesh will stick outwards in little cubes. Cut cubes off skin with a few knife strokes.

repeat with other half.

Squeeze seed in fist, removing leftover mango flesh.

 

 

A video would be easier, I hope the description makes sense

Edited May 11, 2016 by regentrude

[Amira]

First, get yourself a decent mango and a small, sharp, serrated knife. The vast majority of mangoes sold in the US are not decent. Ataulfo mangoes, the yellow kidney-shaped mangoes are my favorite. Also, overripe mangoes are harder to peel.

 

Starting at the stem end, peel the mango. The stem end is a little firmer so it's easier to start there. After it's peeled, start at the stem end again and cut off the fruit going parallel to the pit. Repeat on the opposite side, then get two long strips off the edges.

 

You can bite/cut/slurp off any remaining mango bits from the pit when you're done.

 

I pretty much lived off mangoes in Mexico and finally learned to peel them quickly and easily.

[Minerva]

I must be magic! 

 

Youtube is full of good spells.

 

Yum, yum, yum to grilled mango salsa. I'll hop on my broom and be right over for a taste.

[nd293]

I use regentrude's method. It works well but yes, because of the shape and nature of the mango pit (fibrous) there always seems to be an unnecessary amount of wastage! I use a similar method to cut avocado, but it's so much easier because of the pit.

[J-rap]

I sometimes feel the same about avocados.

[Minerva]

Incidentally, it is mango season where I live, a short but intense season of bounty. My kids have set up the "No Mango Left Behind" program where every afternoon they collect mangoes, cut them using magic, and freeze them. We have mangoes all year long because of this liberal policy. 

[sassenach]

YouTube and a good knife.

[Arcadia]

Lots of practice as a Girl Guide preparing fruit platters for campfire nights. The center portion where the seed is, we just eat it as is since there is little mango flesh left.

 

The India mango are sweetest but most expensive, followed by Philippines. The Thailand ones has the most meat/flesh for the price.

 

I don't have much luck with consistency in Mexico mangoes when buying at Sprouts.

[Amira]

Incidentally, it is mango season where I live, a short but intense season of bounty. My kids have set up the "No Mango Left Behind" program where every afternoon they collect mangoes, cut them using magic, and freeze them. We have mangoes all year long because of this liberal policy.

I have a column for mango tree availability on my checklist when we're deciding where to move next. It doesn't trump everything, but mangoes fix a lot of problems. :)

[Mimm]

Cut mango in (almost) halves, keeping knife as close as possible to the flat side of the seed (that's why "almost", so its the major part of the fruit each side of the seed.)

Hold mango half, skin towards palm of your left hand, flesh up. With sharp knife, make parallel incisions 1-2 cm apart, lengthwise, cutting through to the skin, but not through the skin.

Repeat incisions crosswise.

Turn mango skin "inside out", i.e. flesh will stick outwards in little cubes. Cut cubes off skin with a few knife strokes.

repeat with other half.

Squeeze seed in fist, removing leftover mango flesh.

 

 

A video would be easier, I hope the description makes sense

 

 

Thank you!!!

[Alice]

Cut mango in (almost) halves, keeping knife as close as possible to the flat side of the seed (that's why "almost", so its the major part of the fruit each side of the seed.)

Hold mango half, skin towards palm of your left hand, flesh up. With sharp knife, make parallel incisions 1-2 cm apart, lengthwise, cutting through to the skin, but not through the skin.

Repeat incisions crosswise.

Turn mango skin "inside out", i.e. flesh will stick outwards in little cubes. Cut cubes off skin with a few knife strokes.

repeat with other half.

Squeeze seed in fist, removing leftover mango flesh.

 

 

A video would be easier, I hope the description makes sense

 

 

This is what my husband does. He also gives the pit with whatever fruit is on it to one of the kids to suck and get all the rest of the fruit that way. So there is virtually no waste. 

[AmandaVT]

Cut mango in (almost) halves, keeping knife as close as possible to the flat side of the seed (that's why "almost", so its the major part of the fruit each side of the seed.)

Hold mango half, skin towards palm of your left hand, flesh up. With sharp knife, make parallel incisions 1-2 cm apart, lengthwise, cutting through to the skin, but not through the skin.

Repeat incisions crosswise.

Turn mango skin "inside out", i.e. flesh will stick outwards in little cubes. Cut cubes off skin with a few knife strokes.

repeat with other half.

Squeeze seed in fist, removing leftover mango flesh.

 

 

A video would be easier, I hope the description makes sense

 

This is what I've always done. Here's Alton Brown's mango cutting video (he recommends a different method) - he cracks me up!

 

 

[Katy]

This is the way I always do it: 

 

 

[Mom-ninja.]

Magic as is clear with Alton's video. That man is magic. 

 

I've always wondered how well this works

Edited May 12, 2016 by Mom-ninja.

[Arcadia]

I've always wondered how well this works

I have the apple core equivalent and find using a knife much faster and easier to cut apple slices. I think it would be even harder using a mango slicer on a mango.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Arcadia

[Pam in CT]

I went searching for a youtube of regentrude's magic method, which I use except for the really yellow champagne (?) kind, which seem to be too fibrous for it.

 

Anyway, I found this video, which finishes with regentrude's slice-and-pop-inside-out method but starts with a brilliant gizmo.  If you're a gizmo type.

 

[Mom-ninja.]

Maybe I can just have Mr. Brown come ot my house and slice mangoes for me.

[Truscifi]

I'm jealous of all of you. I'm allergic to the skin of mangoes. Gives me a terrible rash, like poison ivy. I rarely get to eat fresh mango because of it.  :crying:

[mamiof5]

Love mango, absolutely dislike cutting it. And avocados, pineapple, watermelon...the list is getting longer :P

[Seasider]

First, get yourself a decent mango and a small, sharp, serrated knife. The vast majority of mangoes sold in the US are not decent. Ataulfo mangoes, the yellow kidney-shaped mangoes are my favorite. Also, overripe mangoes are harder to peel.

 

Starting at the stem end, peel the mango. The stem end is a little firmer so it's easier to start there. After it's peeled, start at the stem end again and cut off the fruit going parallel to the pit. Repeat on the opposite side, then get two long strips off the edges.

 

You can bite/cut/slurp off any remaining mango bits from the pit when you're done.

 

I pretty much lived off mangoes in Mexico and finally learned to peel them quickly and easily.

This is how I do it. I use a vegetable peeler to skin, then a paring knife to slice. Kids get the slices and I get the mango pit to chew off what's left. It's like a prize to me!

[Seasider]

I have a column for mango tree availability on my checklist when we're deciding where to move next. It doesn't trump everything, but mangoes fix a lot of problems. :)

Agreed, there's just something magic about a mango, no matter how you slice it.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Seasider

[Amira]

If you don't like peeling mangoes, you just need to go live in Mexico for a while. There are fruit and vegetable stands everywhere where you can get all sorts of produce cut up and it costs less then what you'd pay for the whole fruit in the US. You can skip the chili, salt, and lime if you must. And you can choose whatever fruit you want, depending on what's in season at the time. Pineapple, mango, prickly pear, orange, cucumber, papaya, guava, jicama, watermelon, and more. Also, avocados are always ripe there.

 

For the record, the fruit guys I went to cut up mangoes the way I do. None of this scoring stuff or leaving fruit on the pit. I learned better techniques for cutting lots of produce from them.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I have yet to find a mango that ends up tasting good.  So I stopped trying!

 

Although grilled..I bet that's good even if the mango isn't great to start with.