Getting Out of a Predicament With the Right Way to Peel and Cube a Mango

With mangoes plentiful in local markets, it’s not surprising we’ve received several requests for an explanation of how to peel and cube this fruit. One reader confessed she only eats mangoes over the kitchen sink and would never try to serve them or eat one in public.

Actually, mangoes are not difficult to peel and cube once you understand there’s a long, flat seed in the center of the fruit that is held fast to the flesh by fibers. This makes it impossible to halve a mango and twist it apart, as you would an avocado.

Instead, hold the mango stem end up on a cutting board with the narrow side toward you. With a sharp knife, make a vertical cut down through the fruit about 1/2-inch to the right of the stem. Turn the fruit and make a similar cut on the other side (Step 1).

Pare the skin from the center section of the fruit (Step 2), then cut the flesh away from the seed. Being able to see and feel the seed makes it fairly easy to remove the flesh in chunks.

To remove the flesh from the side sections, score it in squares with a knife, being careful not to cut through the skin (Step 3). Push the rounded, skin side of the fruit until it becomes concave (Step 4). Then the cubes may be cut away from the skin.

When selecting mangoes, aroma is the best indication of ripeness. There should be a pleasant, perfume-like scent at the stem end. An alcoholic or sour smell is an indication the fruit has begun to ferment.

It should be noted that mangoes are a part of the Anacardiaceae or cashew family, which includes many members having poisonous or irritating sap. Contact with the mango skin may cause swelling and blistering of the skin of some allergic people. However, many of these same people can consume pulp of the ripe fruit without any problem.

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