How To Peel A Mango

The fruit, mango is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent and originated in Southeast Asia around 4000 years ago. However, it soon spread to the other tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world, where the climate is suitable for its growth. The mango tree is an evergreen tree, which is usually about 60 feet tall and produces fruit after 4-6 years of planting it. Today, there are around 1000 varieties of mangoes available in the world. Mangoes are known as the ‘king of fruits’ not only because of their sweet taste and fragrant, fruity aroma, but because they are rich in vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and fiber. However, with all its goodness, people tend to avoid this fruit because they do not know how to cut them. This article gives a detailed account as to how one would go about in order to peel a mango.

Peeling A Mango

Mango is a very slippery fruit and in order to peel it, first of all you require a serrated edge knife, that is, the one which is used to cut a loaf of bread.
Select a mango which is not over ripe. Ripe mangoes should be kept for recipes where the fruit pulp can be pureed.
Since the mangoes have a large, flat seed, they cannot be sliced through the centre. Instead, they have two opposing flat sides, which need to be cut first.
First of all, place a mango with one of its flat side resting on the cutting board.
Now, slice the mango lengthwise along the flat side next to the seed. These fleshy flat sides of the mango are also known as cheeks.
Turn the mango over and repeat on the other side by cutting the other flat side neatly along the seed. Now, you already have with you two halves of the mango pulp in the skin.
Now, hold one of the cheek pieces of the fruit and carefully cut a cross-hatch pattern through the mango pulp down straight up to the skin. Be careful not to cut through your skin though.
Lightly pick up the cross-cut mango half with both your hands and place your thumbs gently on either end.
Place your fingers just below the cheek piece at the centre.
Take a bowl and gently push the sliced piece upward with the help of your fingers, but continue to press it down with the thumbs and turn the diced pulp completely inside out of the skin.
You can either use your hand or carefully slice out the diced pulp by cutting between the cubed mango pulp and the skin.
Now discard the skin from both the cheek pieces.
Take the mango seed and cut out the remaining pulp from the outer edge of it neatly.
Separate the skin from the mango pulp and dice the extracted pulp into pieces and place them along with the rest of the diced mango.
Each fresh mango will yield about 1 cup of diced mango.

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