Easy Mango Kerabu (Malaysian Mango Salad)

A lot of Malay food seems vegan enough, until one finds out about the generous use of salted fish, fermented shrimp, dried anchovies, fish sauce, oyster sauce and bits of meat or offal that can be hiding in it! In vegetable dishes, animal-based ingredients are commonly added for flavour’s sake. So even when one asks for “sayur sahaja” (“just vegetables”) at a Malay food establishment, it may not be ‘sayur sahaja’ you get!

Mango Kerabu is one of the more common salads, and one of the easiest to assemble.

There is more than one way to grate an unripe mango. I tried two methods: conventional grater and a coconut hand grater.

I personally preferred the hand grater as it creates more uneven strips and adds to the aesthetic of the salad. However, the conventional grater gets things done faster. If no grater is available, cutting the mango julienne-style is not the most ideal option but if you have the patience, cutting as thinly as possible still works. I combined the results of all three to make it this time, and I loved the combination of texture. Use whatever tool you have, or have access to borrowing!

The traditional Mango Kerabu utilizes fish sauce, which I have substituted in this recipe with tamarind paste. My go-to for this is this brand, which already packs the paste de-seeded and pureed. If you have access to the paste that still has the seeds in it, you can remove enough seeds to form 1 teaspoon of paste, then blend with the other sauce ingredients to create the sauce. If you don’t have access to tamarind at all, you can make your own vegan fish sauce! Or, perhaps try substituting with more soysauce (1 tsp) and lime (1/2 tsp). The Gula Melaka can be replaced with any dark-coloured sugar you may have.