The other day I bought a batch of sweet mangoes that were just this side of far gone and very cheap so decided to make this marinade and pop it into the freezer for later use.  (I tripled the recipe).  It is a delicious marinade for pork tenderloin, chicken breasts, or fatty fish such as salmon. (It would also do very nicely paired with a fresh fruit salad).  Once the meat has been marinated and roasted, reheat the marinade for use as the accompanying sauce.

Although quite ready to freeze the whole batch, I decided to marinate some salmon to take a lunch to my buddies at Loupe Digital.  (Who, I say with modesty, said the end result was “killer”).  I cooked up some for SOS (sauce on the side) and still had enough left to freeze for another day.

You can use canned Indian mangoes in place of the, usually, more expensive fresh mangoes and, if you can find them, black sesame seeds (in place of the usual pale ones) add an unusual accent.

Makes about 1¼ cup

1 cup puréed mango

Juice of 1 lime

1 serrano chile, seeded, membrane removed, and minced or to taste

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 teaspoons nam pla or other Asian fish sauce

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

¾ teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon fresh ginger juice

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

Combine the mango purée with the lime juice, chile, vinegar, nam pla, sesame oil, mustard, and ginger juice in a small, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer and immediately remove from the heat and set aside to cool before using as a marinade.  When cool, add the sesame seeds and mint.

If not using immediately, do not add the seeds and mint.  Pour the marinade into a nonreactive container and refrigerate for up to one week.  Add the seeds and mint before using.