Green mango salad with grilled tom yum prawns

This green mango salad with grilled tom yum prawns is so fresh, delicious, and full of textures and flavors. It is perfect as a light lunch or can be served as an appetizer. Thank you to Mekhala Living for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Beyond Sweet and Savory possible.

Growing up in Vietnam, green mango was one of my favorite childhood snacks. My mom would cut thin slices of green mango for me to dip in a mixture of fish sauce, sugar, and chile. It was an explosion of umami, sour, sweet, and heat flavors. Once I got older, green mango became a permanent part of my salad repertoire. I’m so excited to share a refreshing salad of green mango with grilled tom yum prawns created in collaboration with Mekhala Living. 

Mekhala Living has a wide range of paste from curries, laksa, to tom yum made in small batches in Chiang Mai. All their products are gluten free, vegan, and nut free and work with paleo, whole30, and gluten free diets. I have been using their tom yum and curries in soups for a long time and couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with a company that supports and empowers women in developing Asian countries.  

First up, marinate those prawns! I used a mixture of Mekhala tom yum paste, fish sauce, lime juice, olive oil, sugar, garlic, and chopped marut lime leaves for the marinade. Mekhala tom yum paste is made from high quality, organic ingredients with no artificial flavorings or preservatives. While tom yum is regularly used in a soup, I love using it to flavor protein especially seafood like prawns. The prawns need an hour in the marinade to pick up the flavors.

While you wait for the prawns to marinate, get your mango and herbs ready. For this salad I used under ripe green mango. You can use either Vietnamese or Thai mangoes that are easily found at Asian supermarkets. If you cannot find green mango, green papaya is the perfect substitute. To shred the mango, there are a few methods. The goal is to create strips of mango anywhere from 3-5 inches in length and about ⅛ of an inch thick. I used a mandoline but you can easily accomplish this with a very sharp knife if you don’t own one. 

My favorite trick is to hold the peeled mango lengthwise on its side in one hand and methodically hack at it with a large knife, making lengthwise grooves in the flesh every ⅛ inch. If you’ve traveled to Southeast Asia, you might have seen a street vendor do this. Once you’ve made sufficient cuts in the flesh, stand the mango up on a cutting board and use the knife to shave off shreds. Repeat until you have the amount of shredded mango needed.  I keep the mango shreds in a bowl of ice cold water to keep it crisp. You can shred the mango a few hours before you plan on using it. Just leave it in the fridge covered to keep it crisp. For the herbs, I simply remove the leaves and chop them into bite size pieces.

Prior to grilling the prawns, I also prepare the lime dressing. It’s made with fish sauce, lime juice, chopped garlic, red chilli, sugar, and water. I added only 1 bird eye’s chili but you’re more than welcome to add as many as  your taste buds can tolerate. The lime dressing is essential to bringing the salad together. Once I have everything ready, I throw the prawns on the grill. Each prawn needs about 2 minutes on each side to cook.

This green mango salad with grilled tom yum prawns is so fresh, delicious, and full of textures and flavors. The combination of tom yum marinade with the smoke from the fire brings all the umani flavor. I would be happy just eating these prawns right off the grill but they’re even more delicious with the shredded mango, herbs, roasted peanuts, fried shallots, and lime dressing. Every bite is so addicting and before you know it, you’ve polished off the whole salad and still crave for more!

What I love about this green mango salad with grilled tom yum prawns is how easy and quickly you can throw it together! In every bite you get sour, salty, sweet, hot, and umami flavors that embody Southeast Asian cuisine. There won’t be any leftovers for this salad so make sure you scale up the ingredients if you want leftovers for lunch the next day. The recipe is simple and the result is so delicious thanks to Mekhala tom yum paste! 

For more Southeast Asian salad inspiration, check out these recipes: Vietnamese shaking beef or papaya salad.

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