Mangoes come in a variety of colors, including red, yellow and green. Because of this, the easiest way to determine if a mango is ripe and ready to use is by pressing on it gently. If the skin gives slightly, the mango is ready. But before you can use the mango for a variety of uses, including grilling it, using it as a salsa ingredient or eating it raw, you have to separate the mango flesh from the skin and the flat, fibrous pit in the middle.
Step 1
Wash the mango thoroughly to keep from transporting any contaminants on the skin into the fruit's flesh when you slice it.
Step 2
Turn the mango on its side, rotating it so that it's as "tall" as possible. This positions the mango's seed in the vertical plane.
Step 3
Slide through the mango with a sharp knife, just to one side of the center axis. Repeat the slice on the other side of the axis. You'll be left with two round, convex pieces of mango flesh and the center piece, which contains the pit.
Step 4
Turn your knife perpendicular to the mango's pit and slice along the outside edges of the pit, carving away as much of the mango flesh -- and the skin with it -- as possible. Repeat on the other side of the pit.
Step 5
Hold one of the convex mango pieces in the palm of your hand and score through the mango in a grid pattern. Take care to score down to the inside of the mango peel, but not through the peel to your hand.
Step 6
Place your fingers on the edges of the flexible mango peel and press in on the center with your thumbs. This effectively turns the peel inside out, so the cubes you scored into the mango flesh stick out from the flesh.
Step 7
Scoop the mango flesh away from the peel with a spoon, or slice it away with a knife.
Step 8
Repeat the dicing and extraction process on the other pieces of mango flesh.
Tips and Warnings
- You can also use a mango splitter to separate the mango halves from the pit in the middle. Stand the mango up on end, line the splitter up with the shape of the mango to cut around the pit, then press down on the splitter. You can also use the spoon to scoop away any last bits of mango flesh still left on the pit.
Things You'll Need
- Sharp paring knife
- Spoon
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