mango mania

Bet you've never had a mango this good...Alphonso mangoes are here! They are the most delicious underrated tropical fruit. They're ready to eat when they're fragrant and have a little give when handled. And an insider tip, if it looks a little blemished on the outside with brown spots or streaks, not to worry because chances are that it will be even riper and sweeter. Alphonso mangoes have golden orange flesh, are extremely juicy, and very sweet with a floral note that makes its flavour so much more complex than your average mango.

Some supermarkets around town will be selling them by the case.

And speaking of other extraordinary mangoes. I don't know how Alphonsos compare to these Japanese ones, but I'm not about to spend 40x the price to find out.

salsa

It's nearly impossible to get fresh tomatillos in HK so when the opportunity came up, we jumped at it. Here we go with homemade Salsa Verde.

Remove husks from tomatillos and gently rinse. Dry and cut in half. Roast with jalapenos, a white onion, garlic cloves, olive oil until charred and golden. Let cool and then pulse it all in a food processor or blender with some fresh lime juice (use Mexican or Thai limes).

Top with some coarsely chopped up cilantro (also referred to as coriander or Chinese parsley in HK) and season with salt and pepper. Can be served at room temp or refrigerate if preferred (left).

Pico de gallo's (right) easy to make at home too as all the ingredients are readily available. You'll need:

1 carton ripe grape or cherry tomatoes
1/2 red onion
2-3 jalapenos (can substitute with Serrano, local green chili peppers and/or Thai chili peppers)
1 bunch cilantro
juice of 1-2 limes

Cut tomatoes into 1/4 pieces, dice 3/4 of a red onion, coarsely chop jalapenos (mild = no seeds, med = 1/2 seeds, spicy = all seeds) and the cilantro.

Combine together and mix with the lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 to 4 hours for flavours to develop.

rainbows and marbles

Marbled potatoes, rainbow carrots, avocados, lacinato kale and more blood oranges.

Multi-coloured on the outside and inside, these little new potatoes were delicious just roasted with garlic, rosemary, olive oil, coarse salt and pepper.

And speaking of other colourful vegetables, these carrots were so fresh and beautiful to look at. They still had their lush green fronds attached. I simply roasted them with olive oil and coarse salt until caramelized and tender. I couldn't bear to throw out the fronds so I saved them to make stock later.