How to make the simplest anchovy mango salad

The mountains where I grew up grow a lot of mangoes. Mango is suitable for soil, so it is especially good: every tree is tall and tall, spreading its canopy like a great bow, in spring, it blooms with ivory or milky white flowers.

Every year the mango gets a good price, the people in my hometown are beaming because they have more income from a “real food” tree. But usually that luck is not much. In the years when mango was cheap, my family harvested mangoes mainly to eat at home and send to relatives and friends down the river.

Once, an uncle from the sea came to play and brought a large bag of anchovies as a gift to his family. Dried anchovies. Uncle said: “For the salad, it is very delicious”. “Mixed with what?”, my father was surprised. “Oh my god, what else? Kia!”, he pointed to the mango tree that was dangling golden tanned fruits in the back garden.

It was the first time my whole family enjoyed mango salad mixed with anchovies.

It turned out that this dish is quite easy to make, after instructing me once, my mother understood and could do it right away. Selected mango pick old fruit (slightly red the better) peeled, cut into small pieces. Anchovies put a little oil in a frying pan until golden brown. Put the fish with minced mango in a bowl, add a cup of chili sauce, lemon sugar, garlic, and a little herbs. There are handfuls of crushed roasted peanuts sprinkled on top, the more delicious it is. After the salad was mixed, the smell of sour mango mixed with the aroma of anchovies made everyone involuntarily salivate.

Break a piece of crispy grilled rice paper and bring it to your mouth: the sweet taste of fish mixed in the sweet and sour taste of mango; The fatty taste of roasted peanuts and the pungent aroma of chili garlic and herbs. The more you eat, the more “already”. After finishing the first piece, I just want to continue the second piece, the third piece…

This dish is eaten with delicious grilled rice paper, but it is not bad to eat with rice. In the mango season, my mother always buys dried anchovies in reserve. On days when I’m busy with work or need money to go to the market, my whole family can eat rice with mango salad mixed with anchovies. Children love sweet and sour foods, so everyone reaches for their chopsticks. It’s just that eating a lot of salad is not good for my stomach, so my mother doesn’t feed it often.

From the day I knew about the mango salad mixed with anchovies, the guests who came to my house were always “promoted” by my father. The plate of mango salad, the grilled rice paper with a little good wine are enough for the host to joke around and chat throughout the day. Everyone praised my father’s mango salad mixed with anchovies, although “homegrown” but delicious and strange.

My father was cool to hear it, laughing with his eyes: “It’s easy, my land is full of mangoes, I don’t know how to cook, but it’s a waste to eat …”. Of course, next will be a detailed tutorial by dad for sincere guests who want to make mango salad.

According to Y Nguyen (phunuonline.com.vn)