A gaggle of geese. A flock of sheep. A glut of mangoes - green mangoes. LOL.... and so it is.
Eating unripe fruit is something I had never really learned to appreciate in my pre-Asia world. And yet here in Thailand, unripe fruit is prized and preferred. In fact, my staff lady pointed with slight disdain at the big, ripe, yellow mangoes being sold on a small table in our soi (laneway) and asked, "You EAT like that, boss?" As if it's a strange, distasteful and weird, foreign thing to do.
Yesterday I picked 37 green mangoes - already quite sweet, crunchy and yummy, albeit with a dense and firm texture. They have an almost creamy quality to them when they are green. Quite tummy in their own way.
The largest of them weighed in at almost 1kg - a little over 2 US pounds.
Even with gifting and lots of green mango salads (stay tuned - I see a recipe post in my future!) there is NO way we can eat and honour all that fruit unless we think differently.
Green mango is a profound natural medicine for digestion, since it is one of the top enzyme-containing foods. These enzymes literally help food break down and enable our bodies to extract optimal nutrition. We also need probiotics for great gut health, and so I decided to lacto-ferment some of my green mangoes and makes some powerful natural medicine for great digestion.
How do I do that?
I peeled and julienned 9 big mangoes and put that into a large bowl along with 2 big spoons of Ancient Mineral Salt, some mustard seeds, cumin seeds and black pepper. I added 1 cup of pure water and used my hands to mix it all and distribute the spices and the salt water. Then I covered it with a cotton dish towel and let it sit out at room temperature for 24 hours for the salt to work its magic.
Next day I put all of the fruit in my glass fermenting jar and added all of the liquid the salt had extracted. It is critical in lacto-fermenting that you completely cover the fruit or vegetable with liquid so the fermentation happens in a completely anaerobic environment. It obviously floats, so I use an upturned ceramic saucer which is almost as wide as the fermenting jar, and weight that down with a little bottle filled with water. And I cover the whole fermenting jar with some cotton muslin.
Label it and set it aside at room temperature for about 7 days in tropical Thailand, but maybe as long as 14 days in a cool climate. If you look closely throughout the fermentation process, you will see that tiny bubbles of gas are continually being produced... a bit like cheap champagne. They rise naturally through the fruit and liquid mix and naturally escape. There is no nasty smell. LOL. You will KNOW when it it done when there are no more bubbles.
The only thing to DO is to check that the fruit or vegetable you are fermenting stays well under the liquid through the entire time.
When it's done, pack it into jars, cover with the liquid and store in the fridge. It will keep happily - as long as the liquid keeps everything covered - for several months.
What does it taste like? A sour-salty pickle. And in the case of my mango, a little sweet edge to it, as they have natural sweetness to start with. Think of it as a raw, probiotic pickle, with a gentle crunch. You can ferment pretty much ANYthing this way.
Side note: since both onion and garlic inhibit bacteria, it's not a good idea to add them to a ferment.
How to eat? On the side, with a salad or your meal is great. Or tossed INTO a salad. Japanese or Korean style they would serve a small bowl beside whatever your eating. Me? I tend to like a small bowl BEFORE my meal, or just as an anytime snack. It's a meditation to pause, serve yourself something natural, probiotic, enzyme rich and nourishing, and to mindfully enjoy it. The leftover liquid makes a SUPER probiotic salad dressing - simply add a tablespoon of white tahini, shake and serve.
ENJOY the abundance when it happens, and relish the countless ways we can create our own natural preventative medicines. How many more green mangoes are on the tree? Easily another 100+ ! LOL. Better get busy....
Food IS medicine.
Grow, cook, prepare, share and enjoy the abundance of Mother Earth.
