Adapted from Vietnamese restaurant chef and cookbook author Charles Phan

ingredients

1 tablespoon sugar
1 small clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced Thai chile
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup fish sauce
4 firm yet ripe mangos
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

preparation

Combine the sugar, garlic, chile and salt in a mortar; pound with a pestle until finely mashed. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use the bottom of a heavy knife (like a cleaver) in a bowl to mash the ingredients together. Transfer the paste to a large bowl, add the lime juice and fish sauce, and stir well to combine.

Stand 1 mango, stem end down, on a cutting board. Using a large, sharp knife, cut straight down along one side of the flat oval pit. Cut down along the opposite side of the pit. Put half the mango, skin side down, on a cutting board and cut it into slices about 1/8 -inch thick, cutting to, but not through, the peel. Using a small paring knife, cut the slices away from the peel. Repeat with the remaining mango half and then with the remaining 3 mangos.

Add the mango slices to the dressing and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with cayenne and serve.