Mango Fabrication

Mangos work in the kitchen anyway you slice them.
Use Chef Allen Susser's technique for easy mango preparation.- Turn the mango on a narrow side so the fleshy cheek can be sliced off.
- Cut through the cheek using a sharp knife about one-third of the way into the mango.
- Cut all the way through, allowing the cheek to separate from the fruit. Repeat with the other cheek.
- Cut the remaining wedges from the stone using the cheeks and wedges as needed in your recipe: whole, wedged, slices, diced or cubed.
Finish with fancy hedgehog flair. Chef Susser often employs an easy hedgehog technique for a decorative effect.
- Insert a knifepoint into the flesh of one cheek.
- Carefully, without cutting through the skin, slicing only just deep enough to touch the skin.
- Slice 5 or 6 equally spaced short lines in the same direction. Using the knifepoint, cut lines perpendicularly in the opposite direction for cube shapes or diagonally for diamond shapes.
- Hold the cheeks in both hands, with thumbs and palms atop the fruit. Gently push upwards from underneath with fingers from the center.
- Ease remaining flesh until the skin is pressed inside out, popping the flesh into a hedgehog design.
