Helen Chen

Welcome to my blog. I'll be using this site to share with you new tools for the kitchen, menu ideas, recipes and cultural information from China and beyond . . . I hope you'll find my blog to be informative, interesting and useful. Welcome and welcome back! - Helen Chen I absolutely LOVE mangoes and in the last few years I have been enjoying the sm... all, yellow Champagne Mangoes also known as the Ataulfo mango from Mexico. These have a soft, sweet and very juicy taste that's rich with that wonderful ripe mango fragrance. They are far less fibrous than the larger Tommy Atkins variety. Mangoes are rich in vitamins A, B, C and fiber. I think I got my love for mangoes from my father. We used to buy them by the case and keep them in the basement to ripen. So far, I've purchased 2 cases of Champagne Mangoes this season and they do ripen beautifully in our dark, cool basement. My husband doesn't care for mangoes, so I have them all to myself :-) The only problem is that they all ripen at once so when they are ready -- it's feast time! The Champagne mango season is May to early August. I still have a few more months of delicious eating to go! A neat way to serve mangoes is to cut the flesh off either side of the pit with a sharp knife. The pit is flat at the widest part of the fruit. Holding a piece that was sliced off, make evenly spaced diagonal cuts in a diamond design through the flesh, but not into the skin. Do the same on both pieces. Holding a mango piece in your hands, push the center up so that the skin flips up and the mango pieces separate and stand up -- looking like a porcupine's back. Serve as is, scooping out the cubes with a spoon or slice off the cubes with a knife and serve them in a dessert dish. Don't waste any of the delicious flesh remaining around the pit. Peel off what's left of the skin around the mango pit and enjoy. I consider it the cook's reward!Read More