Do you wait for mango season all year long? We know we certainly do! But we’ve all faced that terrible moment when you buy mangoes but they aren’t ripe enough to eat yet. Waiting for mangoes to ripen on their own can take days, and if you need to satisfy your mango craving right away, then here are a few easy ways to help speed up the process.
1. Uncooked Rice
Mangoes naturally release a gas called ethylene which helps them ripen, and completely covering the fruit up in uncooked rice and leaving overnight traps the gas and makes it work faster, in order to ripen the mangoes up quickly. The best thing to do is to leave the mango in uncooked rice overnight, and they should have ripened up by the morning. If not, leave them in there and keep checking until they are ripe.
2. Paper Bag
Another way to ensure that the ethylene gas from mangoes doesn’t escape is to roll up the mangoes in a brown paper bag (or newspaper), cover it up properly, and leave in a cool, dry place for a day or two. This is an old trick used by many of our parents and grandparents, but it works! The only problem is that it still takes some time for mangoes to ripen this way.
3. Microwave
This is the quickest way to ripen a mango, although not the best since the mango tends to lose some of its delicious taste and texture in this way. Take a knife and cut some slits into the mango, cover it up in a tissue and microwave it for about ten seconds. Carefully take it out, and press the mango to see if it’s soft. If the mango seems ripe to the touch, then it’s ready, and if not then microwave for it for an additional ten seconds. This will not be the best way to enjoy a mango, but it certainly beats waiting for days and days!
Remember, once a mango is ripe, it can be stored in the fridge for up to five days. Towards the end of mango season, when you want to save it for future use, you can cut a ripe mango into cubes and freeze it in an airtight container for up to six months.
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