Mango and Mangosteen (Video)

Mango Semifreddo with Mangosteen-Strawberry Salad and Pandan Syrup

It appears approachable yet unattainable.  Obliging but aloof.  After penetrating the gruff exterior, you discover pristine white segments.  Pop one in your mouth and it explodes with flavors of peach and apple with a strawberry’s acidity. 

Thai people justifiably call the mangosteen, “Queen of fruit.”

A taxi driver in Phuket, Thailand introduced me to mangosteens.  I had hired him to drive me around for the day.

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His daily rate was 400 baht, about twelve dollars.  Wanting to appear as the nice farang (foreigner), I doubled his rate.

We separated for about half an hour.  When we met up at his van, he handed me a plastic bag full of purple looking tennis balls. I was perplexed.  He smiled and said, “Mangosteen. Gift for tip.”  He showed me how to open the fruit.  The first bite was as if the Queen had knighted me.    

As a result of that experience, whenever mangosteens arrive the market, I buy as many as possible.  Even though they’re fantastic on their own, mangosteens shine when they have supporting players. 

Mango is an obvious choice.  The fruits share two syllables.  Strawberries echo the mangosteen’s acidic component.  Macadamia nuts offer crunch.  And Thai basil is good on anything.   

They look like they belong in a lawn clipping bag.  However, they have a distinct nutty, vanilla like flavor. 

Take a look at the video to see how the dish comes together and one way to open a mangosteen. 

A note on mangosteens and pandan leaves:  Fresh is better.  However, Southeastern Asian markets sell canned mangosteens and frozen pandan leaves. 

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Serves 4

1 cup mango puree (about 2 mangoes)

1  whole egg

1 egg yolk

¼  cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup whipping cream

Method:

Puree the mangoes in blender.  Add a little coconut water or regular water if needed.

Whisk the whole egg and egg yolk in a bowl over simmering water until very hot to the touch, about 15 minutes.  Add the mango puree and get the mixture very hot again.  Cool in an ice bath and add the vanilla extract. 

Whip the heavy cream until you get soft peaks.  Add a little of the cream to the mango/egg mixture and stir to loosen.  Fold the whipped cream one-third at a time into the egg mixture.  Put the mixture in a container and freeze for several hours.  The semifreddo will keep in the freezer for a month.  Makes one quart.

1 cup mangosteen segments

1 cup strawberry pieces (use a small melon baller or simply dice or slice them)

½ cup chopped macadamia nuts

2 pandan leaves

½ cup sugar

1 cup water

Thai Basil

Thai basil flowers for garnish.

Method:

For the Pandan syrup, snip the pandan leaves into 2 or 3 inch slices.  In a small sauce pot, add the water, sugar and pandan leaves and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.  Cover, remove from the heat and let steep for 1 hour.  Strain and refrigerate until cool.  The syrup will keep in the refrigerator for 1 month. 

For the salad, toss the macadamia nuts, strawberries, mangosteen segments and basil with some Pandan Syrup.

To assemble the final dish:

Place ½ cup of the Mangosteen-Strawberry salad in a bowl. 

Use 2 spoons to form quenelle (oval) shapes of the Mango Semifreddo.  Or, just use an ice cream scoop. 

Place the Mango Semifreddo on the salad and top the semifreddo with a Thai basil flower.  Serve immediately. 

Do you have any eye-opening experiences with new fruit? Drop a line in the comments. We’d love to hear your story!

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