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Mango chow
Half-ripe mango tossed with lime, garlic, shado beni, salt and hot pepper, Trinidad's favourite street snack
Chow is what Trinidadians eat on a hot afternoon: fruit, most often half-ripe mango, sliced and tossed with lime juice, salt, garlic, chopped shado beni and plenty of hot pepper. It's sold in little bags at roadside stands, beach stalls and outside schools all over the island. It's crunchy, sour, salty, garlicky and fiery all at once. Pineapple, cucumber and pommecythere (golden apple) are made the same way. Chef's tip: let the chow sit for 10 minutes before eating. The salt and lime draw out the mango's juice into a tangy, peppery 'pickle' liquid, and that juice is the best part.
- Total time
- 10 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Peel 2 half-ripe mangoes and cut the flesh off the seed into slices or bite-sized wedges about 1 cm thick. Firm, half-ripe mango is best: sour, crunchy and only a little sweet.
Step 2: Put the mango in a bowl with 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp shado beni (culantro) or coriander, ½ scotch bonnet pepper, ½ tsp salt and 1 pinch ground black pepper. Trinidad's hot peppers (scotch bonnet or the local 'congo pepper') are very hot: seeded and finely chopped gives a steady burn, a whole pepper dropped in and lifted out gives fruity flavour with only gentle heat.
Step 3: Toss well with a spoon, or cover the bowl and shake it, which is how Trinis do it.
1 minStep 4: Leave for 10 minutes so the juices run, toss again, taste for salt and lime and eat straight away.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 80 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 20 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mango chow take?
- About 10 minutes in total.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of half-ripe mangoes?
- Tinned mango pulp, same weight.
- What can I use instead of lime juice?
- Lemon juice, same amount.
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