情人果乾: Dried Green Mango Preorder
nature's sour gummy, put your name in now
This is Yun Hai Taiwan Stories, a newsletter about Taiwanese food and culture by Lisa Cheng Smith 鄭衍莉, founder of Yun Hai. If you aren’t yet a subscriber, sign up here.
A quick note today to let you know that preorders are now open for Dried Green Mango 情人果乾, the newest addition to our family of Taiwanese Dried Fruit. Here’s a chance to order ahead, avoid any kind of out-of-stock situation, and get 10% off. Preorders open for one week only; get your order in by August 20th for an estimated delivery date of September 20th.
Tu Mango 土芒果 is Taiwan’s original mango, introduced to the island in the 1600s and still enjoyed voraciously for their intense mango qualities. The hyper local tip is to smash them inside their skins and suck the juice out through a hole in the top. Yet another brilliant and practical Taiwanese drink.
Tu mangoes are pretty small (about the size of the palm of your hand at maturity), grow on tall trees (as opposed to lower-to-the-ground Irwin mango trees), and are sold in bunches because no one can stop at one. The name Tu means soil or dirt. Literally, “the mango of this place”.
To get to the largest possible, ripest possible Tu mango, a significant pruning of unripe fruit is required, which is described by one of the farmers we work with as “learning to let go.” If you don’t cut away much of the baby fruit, the tree will have to split its resources across all developing fruits, resulting in a whole lot of tiny mangoes and nothing to write home about. Pruning is an important part of fruit production everywhere, and is a lesson from agriculture to pick your mangoes and stick with ‘em.
Luckily, you can prune your mangoes and eat ‘em too: the unripe mangoes are delicious in their own right, enjoyed in all manner of ways—candied, pickled, frozen, and of course, dried. An old-school Taiwanese treat.
Dried Green Mango
This is where we come in: we’ve sourced excellent dried Green Mango from two family farms in Yujing 玉井 Tainan, one of Taiwan’s mango capitals (the other being Fangshan 枋山 in Pingtung, where we get our Irwin Mango). In April, Lillian (our COO) visited the Liao family farm, where the Liaos showed us green mango in production, and taught us the art of letting go.
Dried Green Mangoes are nature's sour gummy: chewy, bright, and sweet with a satisfying tang. The name 情人果 (Lover’s Fruit) has multiple interpretations, my favorite being that the addictive, sweet-sour, electric flavor is reminiscent of being in love. Let the sparks fly.
As usual, we don't add any additives or artificial preservatives, and dry them naturally. The only ingredients are green mangoes, salt, and sugar. And of course, young love.
Don’t miss this chance to stock up on our brand new dried green mango for 10% off. One week only: preorders close August 20th, with an estimated delivery date of September 20th. If you do preorder, don’t add anything else to your cart or it will hold up delivery of any in stock items.
Thanks for your attention! Stay tuned for at least one more very big launch this month.
Never not pruning,
Lisa Cheng Smith
鄭衍莉
Research and editing for this installment provided by Lillian Lin.
Photos by Leh-Chyun Lin.
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