The Month of the Mango in Cambodia

With Cambodia growing the most delicious tropical fruits, we have them right on our doorstep, in fact, growing right in the hostels garden.

This is the month for #mangoes and it's their time to shine and ripen!

Thy, one of the co-owners here at The #EasyPandahostel, loves mangoes but they have to be of a particular ripeness and particular shape to be a mango match for his taste buds.

Yup, believe it or not, there are variations of the mango.

They are eaten earlier in the year when they are still green with a paste made from a fish or a chilli and sugar dip, sour in flavour and hard in texture. A tip is to leave the skin on for a less sour taste.

But at this time of year they are at their ripest and sweetest.

THY'S TIPS ON THE PERFECT MANGO PICK

They have to still be a little green, have a round edge at the bottom (not a spike like the one in the picture) and have a dappled effect on the yellow skin. Last step...smell it, it should have a strong mango smell. If you have all these pointers you are sure to have one tasty mango.

The ones we picked from our garden are delicious, juicy and fresh! You couldn't get any fresher and more natural than this.

MANGO TO MAKE THE HUMAN GO

It's not just about the taste, the mango has many health benefits that you may not know of, here are a few:

1. Help you have a healthy gut with their prebiotic dietry fibre and helps in digestion.

2. Has up to two thirds of the recommended intake of vitamin C helping your immune system.

3. Deemed safe for diabetics to eat.

4. Keeps skin looking fresh

It has been a team effort at the hostel to collect and pick all the mangoes, using an interesting contraption made from a wire clothes hanger, a bag hung on the end of a bamboo stick as long as the tree itself so we can reach. Reach we do, with great succes and we have eaten so many we may turn in to mangoes ourselves.

As a hostel we try to be a 0 waste business, so with the numbers of mangoes we have we have given some to the families around us, sliced and frozen some (to use for cocktails or smoothies) and cooked some in to jam for your morning breakfast tea and toast.

If you have any other suggestions, please message us, we would love to hear from you or come visit us on your travels and try some of the mangoes and our menu for yourself.