To me the mango looks like it was dried and has been reconstituted, or perhaps dried just a little? The wettish chunks are beef, i think, and the strips are carrot, which leaves the dryish darker orange as the mango, even though they are calling green.

Edited to add, the mango though green is still ripe and yellow, just firm, according to mango.org Here is their recipe for that dish https://www.mango.org/recipes/green-mango-and-grilled-beef-salad/

I have had salads similar to this-- but they have always been more like the last NYT recipe you shared with lime and some heat. I do like spicy so that would be the direction I would go-- but i am not trying to recreate a specific dish.

I can't figure out why that tamarind dressing is looking so creamy-- but i did check a number of other recipes and they are similar... but most use palm sugar instead of maple syrup and many add chiles.

It looks wonderful-- eager to hear how it goes.

To me the mango looks like it was dried and has been reconstituted, or perhaps dried just a little? ...the dryish darker orange as the mango, even though they are calling green.

Well, of course, I ate the dish. There was no dried mango, and the fresh mango was pale yellow. "Green mango" is unripe, which means the skin is green and the inside is pale yellow, rather than orange. I just learned that myself.

Off to look at the recipe you sent, KSWL, thanks!

Oh-- if you look at the reviewer's photo on the NYT salad it looks nothing like yours-- and I didn't notice that it didn't include greens. I would do a hybrid borrowing from NYT as appropriate. With or without the chiles/spice. (with for me, please!)

Maybe the ‘beef green mango’ just refers to the greens in the salad? I can’t imagine a green mango.

Did the salad you ate contain fish sauce? That's a very specific taste. I wouldn't serve a dish to a group with that in it because of the aversion of many and the odor. I like it, but I also lived in Asia.

Outside,

"Green mango" is absolutely a thing, as i posted above:

"Green mango" is unripe, which means the skin is green and the inside is pale yellow, rather than orange.

And it actually makes sense to me, because a really soft and strongly sweet mango would, IMHO, be awful in a salad with beef.

Re,

I would bet is had just a bit of fish sauce, much the same way people put just a bit of anchovy paste in things, for umami. I did not taste it. I avoid fish sauce because I am allergic to shellfish and it can contain shellfish extract. I would probably use Worcestershire.

... both sauces are made using anchovies and fermented for up to 18 months, they have a similar umami flavor. That said, Worcestershire sauce is much lower in sodium at 65 mg per teaspoon (5mL), slightly thicker, and may have a different flavor profile. Swap fish sauce for Worcestershire sauce at a 1-to-1 ratio.

Simple based on the visual-To my eye it looks like those could be nigella seeds. Do you think those are all carrot or could there be thinly slice mini orange bell peppers? Probably not. I would definitely use some arugala. Mango, arugula and tamarind are so good together!

No, no peppers for sure. Hmm, was hoping they were black sesame, which I have. Ive never used tamarind!

I can’t really see how flat the seeds are in the image. I’m sure black sesame will be great in that salad.

I like nigella seeds, though my mom always said they taste like pencil points! lol

My audience is foodies, so anything goes

Sorry, missed that Mtn.

I’ve never used tamarind either. Looking at it, could it have been in paste form mixed with cider vinegar for the dressing? It sounds as if it could be either sweet/sour to tangy and tart.

I am not trying to be argumentative 🧐 but there must be some disagreement about the green thing as the mango.org site says green mango is ripe but firm. The site is administered by the National Mango Board, whoever they are, lol.

I personally like mango at all stages of ripeness, even though the fruit sometimes smells like drying paint.

I just went by this:

However, I would add that, whenever i have had mango in salads, it has been a quite pale yellow and firm and a bit tart. The mangoes I buy whole are like that when they are not quite ripe, but not as hard as a rock, either. When the mangoes I buy fully ripen, they are softer, like a peach, deep orange and fragrant, and very sweet.

I think you can further complicate things by discussing all the varieties, but I only ever see two kinds around here, I will call them "normal" and Alphonso. What I tasted in the salad was the one I normally buy, when I cut it open a little too soon. So, regardless of terminology, that is what I plan to use.

Wonder if I will hear back from the Medellin restaurant and if so in what language!

Green mango salad is a staple here in Thai restaurants. Try your search with Thai included. Often it includes peanuts and sometimes the aren’t roasted but boiled I think. I use tamarind sauce in some meat marinades, but I just saw one recipe for dressing using tamarind fruit that you cook for dressing, which might give a clearer dressing if the fruit isn’t prepared by blending it. I am on my phone and can't link from it.

That looks like large arugula. It's my go-to salad green.

I’ve made lots of Thai dishes, including a (medium rare) beef salad. (I have potos of my salad in a hard drive in my office).

I do not use mango, nor tamarind (but use tamarind in my pad Thai).

The vinaigrette is simple — the classic Thai one: fresh lime juice, palm sugar, fish sauce (made from fermented anchovies; worcestshire sauce and/or soy sauce nowhere close and imo, not a good substitute with regard to flavor).

I have not made this for a while, but the essential ingredients are the charcoal grilled med to med-rare steak on very nice fresh lettuce. I add other things and these many vary, each time I make it:

— perfectly cooked cellophane (mung bean) noodles, not too many

— freshly shredded carrot

— thinly sliced Asian shallot

— maybe toasted sesame seeds

— sometimes few very clean fresh beansprouts

— cilantro and a few springs of fresh spearmint/leaves

Thai birdeye chilies have the most fantastic flavor. Seeds and membrane can be removed for less heat (wear gloves or use a seafood pickand a small paring knife to maneuver the bird chilies (try to get the red ones, then you can use for colorful garnish as well). I often blend soome of these chilies in with the vinaigrette. You can’t beat (for a foodie) the combination of the sour (lime), sweet (palm sugar), umami tang (good fish sauce), and perfumed, flavorful heat, bit of kick from the unusual Thai bird chilies 🌶.

Do not dress with the vinaigrette until your‘re about ready to enjoy the salad. Beautiful greens like bibb lettuce or young romaine put down first, then some of the tender, drained cellophane noodles (in patches), let some show, then the steak, a few fine carrot shread (thin), a few sprouts.

Then, if you want to make it really delicious, sprinkle with the ground toasted sweet rice that had been seasoned with ground freshly toasted seeds and dry spices, herbs. Easy. This should be mandatory <grin>. I can get the recipe if you want. You can buy the toasted sticky rice powdwe in bags in Asian markets, but it‘s just the plain unseasoned stuff.

When I cook for dinner parties, or friends, I always accommodate their tastes and aversions. But, it can be a drag to get too substitutey — it fails to create the real experience and, to me, fails to please.

When faced with too many food aversives (no gluten, no cilantro, no mushroom, no fish, only vegan…, I wonder if just picking up a ho hum takeout order of the blandest Moo Goo Gai Pan wouldn’t be easier on everyone. Then we can move on, argue over the sorbet choices and chat.

@petalique's description sounds like an excellent way to go. If you can't find green mango, try looking for green papaya in an Asian market. Green papayas are also often used in Thai salads.

I also think @olychick is on to something with the suggestion of using the tamarind as part of a marinade for the beef. I use tamarind on occasion, especially in Thai or Indian foods.

Looking forward to hearing how you end up.

I love mango. I have not tried green mango, but have often made Green Papaya Salad. Yummy. The vinaigrette for this is pretty much the same as for other Thai salads. I could eat this stuff daily, but I can no longer consume all that sodium, darnit.

I love using a very broadly adjustable metal mandoline to make long thin strips of the green papaya. Recipes often ask for good quality small dried shrimp, and I’ve sometimes included that (along with the green bean, fresh cherry tomato and chopped peanuts. But, I cave and back away (picky eater syndrome — hand me that moo goo gai pan) from the fishy dried shrimp in the mix. I recoil at bonito flakes in much the same way. Ditto with tuna or sardines in water (olive oil, fine).

I think ripe mango in a Thai salad would be good, but don’t know how it would be with beef or steak. The sald photo Mtn posted above looks good. Oh, and I spot thin red onion — that’s good.

Anyone making these sorts of salads can back off the fish sauce in the vinaigrette. I think Milk Street sometimes offers a very refined fish sauce. If I could partake of sodium rich things, I might spring for it.

I am a sucker for attractive packaging and enticing descriptions. Remember the J. Peterman catalogs?

Only about $18 to $20 for 200 ML in this adorable bottle.

https://store.177milkstreet.com/collections/best-selling-pantry/products/blis-barrel-aged-fish-sauce

I looked over the recipe mtn posted with the green mango.

Green mango is like green papaya. Unripe. Not hard as a rock, but firm. And those do look like nigella or blacl sesame seeds — pretty.

I would think you could easily use watercress or arugula. No need for noodles. Cilantro (corriander leaf), red onion and thin curls of fresh carrot.

ETA that looks like a good dressing. I have bought tamarind concentrate in a jar. You can also soften the tamarind pos and out the pulp through a sieve. The blender of food processor makes the dressing emulsified and a bit frothy looking. I bet it would be good on a lot of things, including certain fruit salads.

I made it for dinner tonight and, while others liked it, to me it was blah

Oh darn... what a disappointment. Will you tweak or move on to plan b? What's this month's theme?

The theme is salads.

I think I am going to give up recreating what I had, and pull out the big guns: peanut butter.

I think I will make a peanut butter dressing and skew it toward satay flavors.

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/thai-crunch-salad-with-peanut-dressing.html

I havent made that recipe from Once upon a Chef, but I made this, similar one, and it is very nice. https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/asian-slaw-with-ginger-peanut-dressing.html 

I'm sorry to hear that your beef and mango salad didn't work out for you but that Thai salad sounds delicious.

Thanks for letting us know, Mtn. I’m glad your guests enjoyed it. Did you feel it lacked zip?

I used to make various Thai salads all the time and usually took phots, but most are on other devices. A lot of the thing with these Thai salds is there is a lot of complementary things going on at once and it’s not bland, but piquant. They usually want some fish sauce. While Thai fish sauce is made from fermented anchovies, I can understand anyone with a shellfish allergy being very careful to trust that no shell fish (shrimp? crustaceans) found their way into the mix.

Here is a photo of one of my very first beef salad attempts. I got much better, but even this was good.

Subsequent ones looked more like the following images (from others):

(Via Bamboo Beach)

Mtn and localeater, thanks for the links to your salads. I hope to try one or both. And no fish sauce, so I bet that will involve less sodium. And no risk pf shellfish allergy. Those salads look fantastic.

How do you get the soy peas? Do you begin from scratch, steaming the pods?

That’s good to know. I like them. Now you folks have me hungry for these salads and satay like chicken.