Green Mango Salad with Smoked Salmon

I had this delicious hot smoked salmon sitting in my fridge for a while and didn't get to it. Hot smoked salmon is salmon that is smoked with heat for 6-12 hours and is cooked all the way through. Joe, who used to be at Sunset Valley Farmers' Market back when I started in 2003, brought this in a while ago. His smoked salmon is out of this world. He was doing it to raise funds for Texas River School that he started in 1992. Read more on the school and see some photos also on Austin American Statesman. Now, he only does it for friends and we are glad we are one of his circle. Joe found us when we just opened. He would bring in smoked salmon and trade for Thai food. We of course went for it.

I am a busy woman, you know, running a restaurant, weeding the garden and raising a four year old, I sometimes left things in the fridge until some great ideas came up to make it with. Naomi, our employee, mentioned I should probably use those smoked salmon. It took me one whole night to think what I could do with it. I had made salad w/ greens and all but I didn't want to do the same thing. In the middle of the night, I thought of this most-requested-but-I-never-made-it salad. Perfect time of the year to find green mangoes so I got some.

Usually, this green mango salad is tossed on top of crispy catfish. But I don't eat farm catfish, which is pretty what you see at the grocery stores these days, and I thought smoked salmon would be perfect for it. I got some mangoes the next day and made this delicious salad. Green mangoes around here is never a true green mangoes. The inside is always a little yellow. Once in a while, I would find some green mangoes that are still super green inside, and of course crispy.

When picking green mangoes, you want it to be very firm, not even a little soft. It will make shredding it easier. Also, if your mangoes are firm, your salad will keep better. I like mine actually with a little yellow flesh. Although the mangoes were a little too soft for me, the flavors were perfect, a little sweet, a little tangy.

You can shred these two ways. You can follow my instructions on shredding the papaya from this recipe or you can get one of these Kiwi ultimate shredder from Thailand. It's perfect for green papaya and it's perfect for green mangoes. It works with carrots too. I'm sure you can also find them at some Asian grocery stores too.

I also tried to make the salad with cucumbers. It's the perfect time for cucumbers because they are pretty much everywhere at the farmers' market. I have a few growing in my garden. De-seed the cucumbers and cut them into match sticks. Cucumbers have more water, so it's best to eat it right away. I love it both ways. I think it will also work with carrots or anything that is firm. Beets should work wonderfully except that you will probably end up with red dressing. I love beets, so I never really mind that it stains everything.

Be creative and try different things. Add different kinds of nuts to it, cashew, almond or pecans . You can also fry the nuts before adding them to the salad or you can just use toasted nuts. If you choose to fry the nuts, blanch the nuts before frying to prevent the nuts from burning.

This recipe is pretty a guesstimate of what I did. Feel free to add a little more of that or a little less of this to adjust it to your own liking.

Green Mango Salad w/ smoked salmon

2 cups shredded green mango

1/4 cups thinly sliced shallots or red onions

1/4 cups any kind of toasted or fried nuts (I used toasted peanuts)

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

1/4 cup shredded smoked salmon

dressing

3 tbsp lime juice (more is using cucumbers or carrots)

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 minced Thai chillies

1 tsp sugar