In this article, I will show you how to make mango chow. This recipe is so simple, anyone can make it. Mango chow is one of the best desserts in my opinion. The smell of mango and sugar simmering on the stove top brings back memories we all can’t wait to relive. Everyone in my family loves this dessert, and always ask me to make more whenever I have time.
Trinidad Mango Chow Recipe
Mango Chow is a healthy snack prepared with fresh ingredients. Your hot Caribbean bite this summer, stuffed with flavors and character.
Total Time: 5 minutes
Trinidad Mango Chow is a healthy Caribbean snack prepared with sweet mangoes and hot chilis amongst other flavor giving ingredients.
Sunita, my Trini food expert, had me try her favorite Caribbean summertime snack, the Mango Chow.
This is how I ended up sitting in my garden enjoying a cold sorrel drink with freshly prepared Mango Chow.
It was a delight and you are going to love it as well
Ingredients
The mango chow is made of 5 ingredients and each balances out the other.
Mango
I used whatever Mangoes I had growing in my garden.
Mangoes without pulp fibers are preferred and most commercially available mangoes are without those stringy fibers.
Sunita explained that they tend to use the Julie Mango variety in the Caribbeans.
Pick sweet Mangoes with a green skin on the outside.
Don’t pick green small mangoes used for pickles and chutneys.
Chili Peppers
I used milder chilis and halved the amount of chilis in the recipe, because I don’t eat super spicy hot food.
If you are a hot chili head or Caribbean soul, you can add more chili peppers if you like.
Sunita explained that they usually like to use habaneros or seven pot in the Caribbean Mango Chow recipe.
Trini food is known to be hot and the island is growing some of the hottest chilis in the world.
Garlic
Garlic adds a pungent touch to the mango snack.
The bulbs chopped and added to the other ingredients, make the chow the addicting snack that it is.
Garlic with the sweet mango, hot peppers, seasoning and aromatic cilantro balance the taste with each bite.
Cilantro vs Culantro
Sunita explained that her original recipe from Trini includes culantro and not Cilantro (aka green Coriander).
Culantro grows elongated saw-like leaves and doesn’t look like cilantro at all but they almost taste the same.
Hence why we can substitute Culantro with Cilantro in this recipe.
Seasoning
The seasoning is super simple here. It’s just salt!
The salt, however, is important, so use quality salt because that will make all the difference in your mango chow.
I tend to use sea salt. Special Fleur de Sel will take your mango chow to a whole new level!
The salt kinds of marinated all the ingredients together and is the final touch to your Caribbean chow.
How to make it?
You will take about 5 minutes to prepare this snack.
Give the chow 15 minutes to rest so that the ingredients can soak in.
To make this mango chow follow the easy steps.
Step 1
Peel your mango and cut the fruit pulp from the seed core by cutting around.
The pulp can be cut into smaller pieces or dice.
Step 2
Chop your garlic and culantro/cilantro fine.
Cut your chili into fine slices. Use gloves if it’s a how chili pepper.
Step 3
Add all the ingredients to a bowl, season with a sprinkle of salt to taste and mix it all well.
Leave to rest for at least 15 minutes.
I like my mango chow cooled on a hot day.
Dear Reader, have you had a chance to try this mango chow?
Trinidad Mango Chow Recipe
Mango Chow is a healthy snack prepared with fresh ingredients. Your hot Caribbean bite this summer, stuffed with flavors and character.
Course: Snack
Cuisine: Caribbean
Keyword: how to make mango chow, mango chow
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 107kcal
Ingredients
- ▢2 piece Green Mangoes *see Notes
- ▢2 Chili Peppers fresh, *see Notes
- ▢3 cloves Garlic chopped fine
- ▢1 Tablespoon Cilantro or Culantro if available
- ▢½ Teaspoon Salt or to taste
Instructions
- Peel your mango and cut the mango pulp from the seed core into smaller pieces or dices.
- Rinse your chili pepper and cut into thin slices. Discard seeds if you want o reduce heat. You may want to use gloves when cutting chilies.
- Peel garlic and chop fine. Chop rinsed and tapped dry cilantro (or culantro) fine.
- Place all ingredients into a bowl and season with salt.
- Combine the fresh ingredients at let rest for at least 15 minutes so that the ingredients can marinate.
- Best served cooled. I like my mango chow with crackers as a snack.
Notes
- Use semi, near ripe, green-skinned, mangoes.
- How much chili peppers to add depends on the pepper variety and your heat preferences.
- I use jalapenos and similar. A true Caribbean Trinidad mango chow will call for super hot habaneros or 7 pot chili peppers.
- Recipe courtesy Sunita Heeralal
Chow Down on a Spicy Trinidadian Breakfast
Every Sunday morning at 8 a.m. sharp, my immediate family of seven rises to the sound of horns blaring at the gate. Grandpa’s here with breakfast, of course. He enters with rosy cheeks and meticulously unfolds a blue-and-white checkered kitchen towel from a wicker basket. We all throw our hands up at this week’s Julie mango harvest. When the overwhelming heat of dawn swells in the walls of our home, sucking on the seed of an ice-cold ripe mango is pure cooling bliss. But in my opinion, an unripe mango—what we Trinidadians call a “green mango”—trumps all.Towering 35 feet over the green grass in Grandpa’s garden, casting shade over his home, stands the most majestic tree. It bears bright yellow and orange sun-kissed fruit with a slight pink blush, and a few prized unripe green mangoes camouflaged within the leaves. Problem: Grandpa is only willing to share his fruit once it’s fully grown, but what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right? His grandkids—me included—are sneaky. One person distracts Grandpa while another climbs the tree and picks the unripe gems right off the branch. (Depending on your luck, you might find one on the ground.) If Grandpa catches the thief, Arabic swear words are cast toward them, followed by one mighty steups (the sucking sound made by sticking tongue against teeth—a sure sign of irritation). Failure or success, a stolen batch is always worth the scolding.Green mangoes are an integral ingredient in Trinidadian cuisine, like kutchela, chutney, takari, and my favorite breakfast dish, chow. It’s a garlicky, spicy, tart fruit salad that’s most commonly made with mango, but apple, pineapple, pommecythere, and cucumber may show up, too. On an early morning drive to Maracas Beach, on the north coast of the island, I’ll spy vendors setting up shop to sell chow of all sorts. It’s a popular topping for shark and bake sandwiches, grilled meat, and anything curried—my stomach is growling just typing this.In chow, hard green mangoes are sliced, marinated in lime juice, and seasoned with shado beni, a spiny coriander plant. If you cannot locate shado beni at your local grocery store, you’re sure to find it at any West Indian or Mexican market. On the island, we may not live in huts without electricity (as some people assume), but we do eat chow with our fingers. Stick to this tradition—you’ll enjoy licking your hands once the bowl is empty—just keep a glass of water at hand because things are bound to get spicy.
Gallery
Recipe Summary
Total:
5 mins
Yield:
2 servings
Ingredients
Ingredient Checklist
- 3 large, hard, unripe mangoes
- 3 limes, juiced
- 1 pepper (scotch bonnet, habanero, scorpion), seeded and minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup shado beni, finely chopped (if you can’t find it, culantro will work, too)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Instructions Checklist
- Step 1Peel and slice mangoes; throw the slices into a large mixing bowl.
- Step 2Slice limes and squeeze over the sliced mango.
- Step 3Add pepper, garlic, shado beni, salt, and pepper to the bowl and toss with your hands.
- Step 4Serve immediately, or let the fruit marinate for a bit and eat later.
Mango Chow: Delicious Trini Snack
Mango chow is a sweet, tangy and spicy street food in Trinidad and Tobago.
It combines half-ripe or ripe mango pieces, seasonings, and spices to create a delicious, healthy snack.
What is chow?
For the most part, chow is a popular street food in Trinidad and Tobago.
It is made with salt, pepper, fresh seasonings and pieces of fruit and/or veggies that are (usually) in season.
I’ve talked about pineapple chow and cucumber chow before. But trini mango chow is one of my favorites.
How to Make Mango Chow
It’s mango season here in the Caribbean and I’m lucky enough to have lots of trees close by. There is starch mango – a small, sweet, fibrous mango – that is hubby’s favorite. It’s my parents’ favorite too so it’s tough to wrangle a few starch mangoes to make chow.
My favorite variety is Julie mango, considered the queen of mangoes. It’s larger, sweeter, and far less fibrous when ripe and has a mild floral taste too. Unripe mangoes are also edible but are not sweet.
Here are a few I picked from my tree.
Mango chow ingredients
These mangoes ranged from half ripe to ripe. So, I used both in this recipe – the sweet and slightly sour were perfect contrasting flavors.
For seasonings, I used culantro (also called chadon beni), salt, pepper, and lime juice. If you do not have culantro, then cilantro is a wonderful substitute. As for pepper, you can use fresh pimentos, chilis, jalapeños and black pepper. Scotch bonnet peppers are also favorites for this recipe.
Lastly, minced garlic is usually used in chow but I’m not the biggest fan of its strong flavor.
Here’s a look at what I used.
Mango Chow Recipe
Simple Mango Chow Recipe
This is a popular Trini street food that is a refreshing, healthy snack. It’s made with mango, seasoning, salt and pepper. It’s spicy, salty, sweet, and tangy.
Total Time10 mins
Course: Snack
Cuisine: Caribbean
Keyword: chow
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 2 mangoes, cubed (half-ripe mangoes work best)
- 5 – 10 leaves culantro (use cilantro as a substitute)
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste) (optional)
Instructions
- Peel and cut mango into small, bite-sized pieces.
- Chop culantro or cilantro leaves.
- Mix all ingredients.
- Serve chilled.
So ditch the junk food and have a wonderful bowl of mango chow. You’ll satisfy your hunger and have a healthy snack to boot. That’s a win-win!