It's mango season in Taiwan! This is the best time of the year to buy Irwin Mangos. This delicious variety, perfect for shaved ice, was introduced to Taiwan from the US in 1954. Yahoo Japan once conducted a poll which found that 76% of Japanese consumers believe that Taiwanese mangoes are the best quality. 

Today’s menu: In our first course, we’re going to crack open our Chinese farmers’ almanac to find out what it says about mangoes. In our second course Andrew heads into the test kitchen to make some mango pudding. And in our third and final course, we’ll be sampling the pudding right here in the studio.

Dairy-free Mango Pudding

What you’ll need:

1/2 cup water

2 medium ripe mangoes (about 2 cups of chopped fruit, skin and stone removed)

1 packet gelatin (3 tsp)

1 cup of coconut cream (can use milk for a lighter pudding)

Optional: sweetener or lemon to bump up the taste

First peel and cube the mangos, then toss them in a blender or food processor. Blend well until you have a nice, smooth puree.

Then heat the water and half of the coconut cream on low heat until just ready to simmer. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the gelatin on top, stirring with a whisk or fork to fully incorporate.

Pour gelatin mixture and remaining coconut cream into the blender. Zap until it’s combined.

Divide into ramekins and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Top with more mango chunks, a dollop of cream, or sprigs of mint before serving chilled! I topped mine with cream and macerated dragon fruit (I chopped it into tiny cubes, sprinkled with about a teaspoon or so of sugar and a squeeze of lemon, and let it sit for a couple minutes).

Makes about 10 small ramekins of mango pudding.

Inspirations:

Spruce Eats: https://www.thespruceeats.com/lactose-free-mango-pudding-recipe-3217334

Savory Lotus: https://www.savorylotus.com/easy-mango-pudding-dairy-free-and-paleo/

My changes: no sweetener (the Irwin mangoes I used were plenty sweet); and I used coconut cream instead of coconut milk.