It’s paho season again and for a few weeks only, these little mangoes are on offer, and make a spectacular pickle or brined delicacy. I have written about paho before, here and here, but I just wanted to do this quick post to let you know they are in the markets right now. At PHP100 a bunch, they are a bit pricey, but you only need a few pieces to get that unique taste only paho seems to have. That’s two bunches in the photo up top. It seems many folks have never tasted paho or have and didn’t particularly like it, but for me it is a childhood flavor that I seek whenever it is i season. Besides chopping it up and mixing it with tomatoes and patis and chilli as a relish, I made three bottles of brined paho that should last me a couple of months…
My paho relish with chopped tomatoes, chillis, lots of patis, salt (if still bland) and the juice of a kalamansi, if you like. Perfect with fatty foods like lechon kawali, fried or grilled fish, etc.
Peeled and de-seeded paho, ready for slicing. Just in case some of you were wondering…
My brined and bottled paho after a few days in the fridge, perfect for that salty sour hit with pinoy food. Yum!
40 Responses
Oh my gaaad. Naglalaway ako! Perfect with chili and bagoong then make tambay sa tabi ng beach while eating!
pickled paho + steamed crabs and shrimps = heaven.
I think paho is not too common in the South. I just tasted it here when we transferred to Laguna. Thanks for the info, I have to watch out for them in the market one of these days. The paho season is just too short to my liking.
Gay
MM, please pardon my ignorance. Paho a.k.a Indian Mango?
Mandaragat, no, not indian mango, just click on links in the main post for my original posts, including scientific names… different size and flavor.
this is good for your preggy wives.. XD
Reading your post made my mouth water! :)
When you see bushels of Paho in your neighborhood market, it is a clear sign that summer has arrived!
Masarap yan isawsaw sa bagoong isda na may sili….hmmm nakakalaway talaga….marami nyan sa Batangas. Masarap din pag hinog….
Holy!!! OK MM my list of getting to taste again food like this which remind me of my childhood is getting longer and longer each time I visit your site…this brined paho is something I grew up eating….NOW, this would really go WELL with that XO sauce….Have you made it yet? I think I am going back home before Christmas 2008 and bring back more REKADO for the XO SAUCE!!!!
Would this be the same as mangga rachada? It’s only paho in brine that automatically triggers salivating … and I like to eat it with aligue sauteed in plenty of garlic!
Ay, we have that nice sour pahos in Laguna. The only things is pahos are too small and laboriousa to peel. Big mangoes are easy to peel and sour too. I love mangoes with alamang and chili. I’M SALIVATING AS WE SPEAK!!
One of the reasons I visit your site on a regular basis – you let us know when good stuff is available out there kind of public awareness. My love with paho is eternity and plutonic. I totally agree with what you mentioned and all of the above mentioned comments – chopped with tomatoes, onion, salted eggs, chilli and sauteed bagoong good to go with any fish, shrimp, crabs and grilled pork chop, liempo.
MOUTH WATERING!!! And then Maria Clara fills my head with thoughts of grilled liempo and seafood. Grabe! I just ate a PBJ. Not as satisfying as it tasted a few minutes ago… :-(
MM, as soon as I saw the second picture, I felt that familiar tingling/puckering (what DO you call it?) that I call “nangangasim.” Talk about a Pavlovian response. :) Sigh, what I’d give to eat some paho right now.
Oh my! this post is making my mouth water. Naglalaway ako sa kakabasa! I love green mangoes which of course means I love paho. I remember eating them with salt. But they are great made in ensalada as well. Pampagana kumbaga LOL
MM, paho=apple mangoes? I hailed from Pampanga and I remember a type of mangoes that we call apple mangoes. Are they the same? Thanks!
Paho! My Batanguena mom cannot resist these even when the prices get ridiculously high. We don’t even bother pickling them or making a salad, we just slice in half, remove the seed and eat them skin and all! Use the paho half to scoop up some garlicky bagoong and it is just delicious.
Letty, they’re not apple mangoes, these are tiny, like an inch to an inch and a half long. They are tart and aromatic…. if colors could have flavors, this is what I imagine “green” would taste like.
just ike michelle we don’t remove the skin anymore just slice it and very good with sinaing na tulingan, or burong liempo (liempo na inasinan (a lot) and let it sit overnight and then dry under the sun and fry sooo good, dang i wish i have paho right now i just made a batch of burong liempo.
alilay: do you know how make burong liempo? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
I just made some deep fried belly this morning for lunch and ofcourse i save some for my baon at work too. It would’ve been nice to have manggo (any kind will do) salsa on the side with my belly, I’ll make sure to remember next time to buy some green mango, add chopped up tomatoes, onions, patis, sili and black pepper. Oh by way, i re-fried the belly just like your recipe , after the initial deep frying, i cut them up in bite size pieces, then re-fried them with no oil, i used non stick pan, i added lots of chili flakes, but not the bagoong, i’ll do it with the bagoong next time, it turned out good!
In Ilonggo, we call this “pangi.” Paho is the regular mango
thanks for the heads up! i love paho and pahutan (this is how we call the ripe ones). Just peel, slice in half (as shown in the third photo) and then fill the middle with bagoong alamang. now i’m almost drooling…
I just love these pickled in salt and sugar(more on the sugar). Has a similar taste to champoy. I just so love eating this on its own,pickled….a friend goes to alabang market and buys these for under P100. thank you for this post, MM.
I have been craving for paho for a long time. I remember those days when my ‘Nanay” will cook tuligan and we will
have kamatis and sibuyas tagalog with fresh “paho” and a little bit of patis. I am disappointed because we do not have fresh “paho” here in the states. thanks MM
MM i read somewhere that paho is particularly resinous– that accounts for its unusual flavor. I wonder if you have tried eating the pulp of the pili nut? Highly seasonal and it seems only the bicolanos know how to cook them right. Do ask your bicolano contacts about that — it has a delicious flavor all its own.
alilay, please give us instructions how to make burong liempo.
an inch?
INCH??
seriously??!
*clueless*
Sometime Lurker: Seriously small!
MM, you should’ve included your finger in the picture so the others would have an idea as to the size of the paho. I didn’t much like paho when I was young but with all the bloggers coments, I think I am willing to give it another try… and am also waiting for alilay’s recipe for burong liempo. is it the same as “burong babi”?
sometime lurker, yes, they are about an inch or so in length. sonia, I have a post on the pulp of pili, I used to eat it as a kid as my lolo was from Bicol… lety, no paho and apple mangoes are different… bugsybee, I am not familiar with mangga rachada…
sometime lurker, the “early season”, smaller paho are the best! As the season progresses the ones available are bigger, and not as flavorful. My mom calls the big ones “ma-gulang” na.
Marketman, I saw mom today and told her about your paho post, she was outraged that you peeled them! Sayang daw! LOL
At our house a paho is really just a scoop for bagoong :)
michelle, I peel them when I eat them raw, but leave the peel on if I preserve or brine them… :)
Maria Clara and Sonia: When you say burong liempo, isn’t it the same as making tapa? When I was akid, I remember my cousin salting pieces of liempo or kasim, then putting them in the refrigerator like eternity (just kidding), then air drying them before frying. Now…here I make something similar …you know like the Chinese jerky being sold in squares? I freeze the kasim then slice them thinly, marinate them in spices overnight , then the painstaking process of arranging them in racks, If we have really HOT SCORCHING SUMMER, I dry them under the sun. If not, I use a dehydrator. Once it is no longer sticky and sort of tacky glaze, I barbecue them for brief seconds only. Is it this what you’re talking about?
Betty q: thanks for your invaluable input on this liempo. The one I have in mind is fermented in cooked soupy rice like the burong isda. Picture this for the first couple of days of fermentation, it lites up the place with pungent and offensive odor like a rotten dead rat. As the fermentation progresses in days the malodorous whiffs turn to something vinegary. When cooked the liempo tastes like a bacon. It is definitely an acquired taste.
mc, i put a generous amount of rock salt on thinly sliced liempo leave them on the counter overnight until the salt turns watery and then like betty q put under the sun, i don’t have a dehydrator, fry to a crisp and then a dipping sauce of garlic and vinegar that is what my mom does she even smuggled a kio of this through my aunt via newyork and received it after a month when she visited her daughter in l.a.
Thanks Alilay and Betty q for unraveling the burong liempo mystery.
thanks alilay and betty for the notes on burong liempo.
paho is a batangas favorite…wethere pickled or eaten fresh with sinaing na tulingan…php 100.00 of paho is to expensive…i get my paho in tanauan batangas market..”bolante” or ” bagsakan” area…i get it for only P15.00 a bunch…its is excellent when pickled in brine for it still retain its elemi like scent..very aromatic..yum!!!