Som Tam Mamuang (Sour Mango Salad)

Hopefully by now, if you been following me for a bit you’ll know how much I love Thai salads and som tam (unripe papaya salad) in particular. I heard about this version a while back but while I can get unripe papayas fairly easily in my home town, it’s much harder to get sour mangos- about a year ago I came across what I thought were sour mangos at an Indian community shop but they turned out to be young mangos (i.e. pale yellow but still sweet). Nice but not quite right. Last weekend I had a fantastic trip to Thai superstore RaanThai on the Wirral, Merseyside where I got stocked up on a range of Thai ingredients including quite a few I’ve never see before (recipes to follow). Anyway, they did have sour mangos in stock,meaning I could finally make som tam mamuang (also known occasionally as yam mamuang). Just a word- they’re called sour for a reason- which for my tastes, is just perfect.

For a huge portion (enough for 3-4 as a side dish/starter) use:

• 2 small sour mangos (they should be hard and green skinned), peeled
• juice of 1 lime
• a big splash of fish sauce (nam pla)
• a big pinch of sugar
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 red chillies (more less if you want)
• a small handful of peanuts, lightly crushed
• a very small handful of dried shrimp (optional)

In a pestle and mortar, pound together the garlic and chillies into a rough paste; add this to a bowl. Use a julienne peeler or try the Thai way (hacking strips with a cleaver) to shred the mangos into the bowl. Throw in the shrimps and peanuts, sugar and lime juice and fish sauce. Give everything a fairly rough stir/mash about for a few moments to break up the mango a little. Have a taste and add more lime/fish sauce/sugar as to your tastes, if you feel it needs it.

Sankaya Mamuang (Mango Custard)

Hurrah!! I finally did another Thai dessert! this little lovely is a baked mango coconut custard; it’s very much like a soufflé in that it’s baked in the oven, rises and then sinks a bit after you take it out. It’s also good if you don’t like really sweet desserts. I’m also not totally sure if this is a ‘real’ Thai desert- sankaya is normally used inside a pumpkin and then steams as it cooks, you then get a big wedge of softened pumpkin and creamy custard inside. However, mixing in mango puree into the custard mix is much quicker and gives more predictable results.

For two people use:

• 1 juicy mango, pureed


• 2 eggs, beaten


• a small handful of sugar


• 150ml of coconut milk


• optional- shavings of coconut


• a very small amount of vegetable oil

Get the oven heated up, medium high, about 180 degrees/ 350F/ gas 4. Using just a few drops of vegetable oil, grease the bowls/ ramekins/ pots you will cook and serve in. Mix the pureed mango, beaten eggs, sugar and coconut milk in a bowl and pour this in until the mixture sits about a fingers width below the rim. Put the dishes into the oven and bake for about 35 minutes. Like a soufflé, it will rise and then fall as you take it out. Shave over some coconut flakes to serve and be careful- it will be really hot! 

Khao Niew Mamuang (Sticky Rice & Mango)

Okay so it’s about time I did a dessert, even though I’ll admit I’m not a big dessert person. Thai desserts (to me anyway) seem to fall into three categories, heavy starch based dishes; usually sweetened, such as this one, incredibly sweet confectionery based ones or prepared fruits. There’s also the ubiquitous Thai pancake which is always popular with visiting tourist, usually filled with combinations of bananas and condensed milk. This one should be familiar to anyone who’s ever had rice pudding.


For two servings use:

• 1 ripe mango, peeled and cut in half (cut either side of the stone) and cut into wedges.


• 1 cup of rice (risotto, sushi, sweet or Thai sticky) all work


• 200ml of coconut milk (if using a tin, freeze the other half)


• 50g sugar

Start this the day/night before. Put the rice in a bowl of cold water and leave covered to soak until you want to start making the sticky rice. When you’re ready to start drain, (but don’t rinse) the rice. Now I don’t have a rice steamer, if you do, congratulations; follow the instructions on how to use it. Otherwise, get a pan of water boiling, place the drained rice in a sieve over the boiling water, making sure the water is sitting below the level of the sieve, cover it with a tight fitting lid and begin steaming the rice for 30-45 minutes until it’s soft and sticky. While it’s steaming, in a small part, gently heat the coconut milk and sugar until the sugar has dissolved.


When the rice is done, scrape it out into a bowl, pour over half of the sweetened coconut milk, cover it over and leave it to absorb for another 10 minutes or so.


When you’re ready to serve, place a spoonful of the coconut sticky rice next to the sliced mango and drizzle over the rest of the coconut milk.