Mango Madness

When April comes to Bangkok, 2 important events happen.


One is the Songkran festival, also known as the Thai New Year, and this is celebrated between the 13 and 16 of April. During this time, most Thais go to the temple to pray and give food to the monks. Water is gently poured onto Buddha statues and images to cleanse them and / or poured over elders' hands as a sign of respect. For the young at heart and also keeping in mind that April is the hottest month in Bangkok, Songkran has evolved to be the biggest splash party in the city. People are out with their hoses, water guns and buckets to target innocent people on tuk-tuks, motorbikes and buses with opened windows and wet them from head to toe. It is good fun! =)


The other important event for me is the start of the mango season. Mangoes are available all year round. But around April, there is a spike in supply and prices drop. I go all crazy and would have mangoes almost everyday. There are also a few other things that I do.


Like going to Swensen's every April to have one of their mango promotions. It's a ritual for me. =) Their mango concoction typically has some fresh mango, mango ice-cream, coconut flakes, pandan-flavored sticky rice and wafer.

Mango Paradise from Swensen's. My once-a-year mango ritual.

Since mangoes are so easily available and cheap, lots of shops and restaurants are also serving fresh ripe mango with sticky rice. Sticky rice is glutinous rice simmered in coconut milk. I love the combination of fresh mango, sticky rice and corn kernels. Some people would eat this with coconut cream but not me. the sticky rice is sinful enough for me. =)

Fresh mango with sticky rice

And for my very own home-made indulgence, I have my own version of mango-pineapple pudding. =)

Here is my recipe. It is a bit of a cheat but I compensate by putting in lots of mango cubes. =)

Ingredients:

- 1 packet of 90grams jelly crystals in pineapple flavor (This is the cheat. I can't get mango flavor and use pineapple instead for the yellow color. In general, pineapple and mango goes well.)
- 1 cup of boiling water
- 1 can of evaporated milk
- 1 big mango, cut into cubes

Method:

1. Pour boiled water into bowl and stir in jelly crystals. Jelly crystals have to dissolve completely. Set aside to cool.
2. Add in the evaporated milk.
3. Stir in the mango cubes.
4. Mix well.
5. Pour into small cups
6. Chill in fridge.

My version of mango pudding

Till my next blog post, Sawadee pee mai ("Happy New Year" in Thai) and enjoy APRIL! =)