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mango

Khmer food: Svay bok Trai cha-aa

8 March 2014 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

(Smashed grilled fish) I’m always discovering new Khmer dishes I haven’t tried yet. My colleague brought some of this the other day for her lunch. The photo doesn’t capture it well, but it’s a very tasty dish (for those not turned off by pungency, that is)!

It’s made of fish (grilled river catfish was used here), smashed in a mortar and pestle with grated green mango and spices. I asked Sopheap to make it and watched. Into the mortar with the mango went chopped red and white onion, a little garlic, salt, peanuts, some fish sauce and herbs that they call chee (gee?), for which I don’t know the English names. (I’ll add to this post when I find out.)

Similar to it is the more famous green papaya/mango salad. This salad has river crab, often added raw then smashed into the other ingredients. But svay bok trai cha-aa uses fish. They lend a lot of pungency to the already multiple layers of flavor. It won’t go into the family’s recipe rotation very often, because the flavors are a bit strong for the kids right now. But it’s definitely a good lunch option! (I just have to make sure to stock Menthos in my desk!)

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Cambodia, cuisine, fish, food, Khmer, mango, svay bok trai cha-aa

Filipino food: Arce Dairy has got the BEST tropical ice cream flavors

15 June 2013 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

I love ice cream. One of the things I was looking forward to most when I went back to Manila after being away for over 20 years is  the ice cream. Mango, ube (purple yam), macapuno (a type of mutant coconut with soft meat inside instead of water), atis (sugar apple), nanca (jackfruit), pinipig (pounded glutinous rice) – just to name a few of the more interesting tropical flavors. Back when I was a kid there the brand to get was Magnolia, but the line seems to have faded a bit. Towards the end of our stay in Manila I had to binge on this one premium brand, Arce Dairy. It’s less sweet but packs a denser taste than other brands cuz (or so I’m told) it’s made with carabao milk and more natural ingredients.

Arce Dairy Ice Cream
Photo from www.fewsimplethoughts.com

 

Filed Under: Life, Travels Tagged With: Arce Dairy, atis, Filipino food, ice cream, ice cream flavors, macapuno, mango, Manila, nanca, Philippines, pinipig, tropical ice cream flavor, ube

Tropical Fruits in the Philippines

10 March 2013 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

I ate so many fruits while I was there. If I never eat another mango again, I know I’ll have eaten the sweetest, most buttery melt-in-your-mouth mangoes on the planet, in the Philippines.

Chesa, the two more orange fruits next to the guyabana (green prickly-skin fruit), is grown from an evergreen tree native to Mexico and South America but now cultivated across Asia. It’s in the same genus as Cambodia’s Lamut, which is smaller and browner. Sri Lankans call their varieties laulu/lavulu/lawalu. Another variety that may have a more familiar ring to English speakers is Sapodilla.

Guyabana is a fruit in the Annona genus in the pawpaw/sugar apple family, which I believe is native to the Andes but now cultivated in many countries that don’t get too cold (correct me if I’m wrong!). Similar fruits from the genus are called Tiep in Cambodia, Atis in the Philippines, Annona in Guatemala. I’ve heard other species called Soursop, Cherimoya, Custard Apple. Apparently many species in this genus have important agricultural, medicinal and pharmaceutical uses.

Photos are courtesy of Keith Kelly.

Plate of fruit
Mangoes, Chesas, Guyabana
Chesa
Chesa, cut.
Chesa
Chesa half, close-up.

And here’s another pungent fruit from the tropics, mabolo. This one is native to the Philippines. It grows from a tree called kamagong, which is sought-after for its unique dark characteristics. I’m used to durian, jackfruit and other foul-smelling fruit and not averse to trying them despite the off-putting aroma, but this one is an exception. The outer skin is red and has the fuzzy texture of velvet – I’ve been told to wash it very well or your skin will itch where it came to contact with the skin of this fruit. I can’t find reference to that, though. When cut open it has the texture and feel of apple, but a bit more creamy. The ones we had was a bit bland, so I was not very impressed.

Mabolo
Mabolo

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: annona, atis, cherimoya, chesa, custard apple, Filipino food, Filipino fruit, guyabana, kamagong, lamut, laulu, Mabolo, mango, Philippines, pungent fruit, sapodilla, soursop, tiep

Durian: It’s that time of year again

13 March 2009 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment


The hot and sticky summers in April, May and June bring the season of the best fruits of the tropics. This naturally includes durian, which of course you must eat with mangosteens (arguably one of the better things about Asia) or else your body temperature rises too much. But then again, this is when mangoes are falling off the trees on the roads and there’s just too much for consumption including exports. So I guess I can handle that waft of durian odor once in a while….

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: durian, mango

5 Ways to Eat a Mango!

15 April 2008 by Nathalie Abejero 1 Comment


Typically existing in two races, the mango finds its roots in Burma and South India, and in Southeast Asia particularly the Philippines.

Mango season is one of my favorite things about living in Asia! All the charm and sensuous sweetness that is the essence of the tropics– in one fruit. Mangoes signal a reprieve from the hot season, heralding the summer monsoons. It kicks off the festive Khmer New Year and launches the summer fruit bounty: rambutan, lychee, mangosteen and durian. Long bamboo sticks with a cage-like trap at the end ensure reach into the highest cluster (these evergreen trees grow to 60 feet tall).

Street vendors now walk their bicycle-loads of mangoes, and market sellers pile them on mats and in baskets. National roads are lined with stands stacked high, selling for as little as 1000Riel or $0.25 per kg. Because techniques to increase mango yields are so successful, and growers don’t have the capacity to export the fruit, its prices are largely insulated from inflation and the depreciating dollar.

So what to do with all those mangoes?

1. Eat it raw, it’s packed with nutrients! Khmer taste buds are inclined towards bitter and salty flavors, so a popular way to eat it here is unripe, sliced and dipped into a mixture of salt and chili. But many of us prefer it melt-in-your-mouth golden sweet and custardy!

2. Toss cubes of ripe sweet mango into your favorite curry for a smack of fresh tropical sweetness.

3. Make a Mango Chutney and serve with brie on a cheese platter or with grilled chicken or fish. From the Food Network:

2 1/2 cups diced mangos
1 (1-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
1 Scotch bonnet pepper, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
Freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until thick, about 25 minutes, stirring often to keep from sticking. Let cool, and store in an airtight container.

4.
For a sumptuous dessert pair it with the decadent richness of coconut by making Sticky Rice and Mango (Recipe by Sophat). This combination of the fresh sweetness of mango with the rich creaminess of coconut milk is really a fabulous treat. Sticky rice is a staple to Laos and Thailand. Sticky Rice and Mango is credited generally to southern Thailand where sticky rice is served with mango as a dessert, with condensed or coconut milk poured over it.

1 1/2 cups sticky rice
1 1/2 cups canned coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
2 to 4 ripe mangoes, depending on size, peeled, pitted, sliced.

(To make your own coconut milk: Take a cup of unsweetened shredded dried coconut and stir in two cups of boiling water. Let sit for a few minutes then strain with a cheesecloth to extract all the liquid. Sweeten to taste ~around 3Tbsp~ with white sugar. This is much better than canned coconut, but the latter can be substituted. Set aside.)

Steam the rice (this needs less water than regular rice) and set aside to cool for half an hour or so.

In a pan, gently warm coconut milk with sugar and salt until they dissolve. Stir in half the coconut milk mixture over the warm sticky rice. Divide sweetened rice to individual serving bowls. Add mango slices. Pour the rest of the coconut milk over the mango. Serve.

5. Whip up a Mango Lassi (Recipe by K Kelly). Lassis are a tasty shake, good as a filling snack on those hot days. It’s a traditional North Indian beverage, and it’s found in ancient Indian texts. Yogurt sweetened with honey is still used in Hindu rituals.

2 cups milk
1 individual container plain yogurt
2 mangoes, diced
2 tsp honey

Mix all in a blender. Serves 2.

And if you have an event coming up that requires a cake, mango complements chocolate very nicely. It’s also excellent paired with coconut, passion fruit or taro in a moist layered cake, with mango incorporated into the icing. I unfortunately am not a good baker and have only had cakes professionaly catered, so can’t offer a recipe. If anyone has a good one I’m game to try!


There are over 1000 varieties, ranging from a deep golden yellow to green to red. Svay teethai and svay kailchun in Cambodia are known to be sweet.


One of many fruit sellers at Psar Toul Tumpung (Russian Market), with pre-season harvests.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Cambodia, mango, mango lassi, Phnom Penh, sticky rice and mango

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