Mango Chili Salad Dressing

Mango Chili Salad Dressing from Lang Weinessig in the Southern Palatinate

Mango Chili salad dressing from Lang Weinessig is a light salad dressing containing nearly a third mango pulp, with chili providing the counterpoint. Cold-pressed rapeseed oil carries the mango, white wine vinegar keeps it fresh, and one spoonful is enough for an entire bowl.

Mango Chili salad dressing is the fruity, spicy salad dressing from Lang Weinessig in the Southern Palatinate, in a 250-milliliter bottle. The mango pulp gives it body and its sun-yellow color, the chili provides a contrasting warmth that only kicks in after you swallow, and a touch of sugar rounds it all off.

Sweet mango with a lingering warmth

It smells of ripe mango and tastes just like it at first, broad and sweet, before the chili quietly follows and lingers for a while. The cold-pressed rapeseed oil carries the mango softly, while the white wine vinegar draws a fine line underneath so the sweetness doesn't become cloying. The balance between sweetness and spice is exactly what a salad of crisp leaves needs.

You only need a little chili, because it has more impact in a sweet environment than in a spicy one. Mango, fire, and acidity combine to create a flavor that settles on the leaves and slowly warms up as you eat. By the third bite, you'll understand why so little chili is enough.

Salad dressing for leafy greens, bowls, and grilled food

It makes for a great start over crisp leaf salads, a perfect finish in a bowl with rice and vegetables, and it pairs naturally with pan-fried chicken or shrimp. Over grilled halloumi and corn on the cob, it brings sweetness and fire to the grill. It is also ready to go with pan-fried tofu or oven-baked sweet potatoes.

It also works well as a dip for sweet potatoes, falafel, or spring rolls, and can be turned into a milder dip in a minute by mixing it with some yogurt. For something smoky and hearty, try the Chili Bacon salad dressing, or go for the completely spice-free Mango Fruit Balsamic.

Why the pulp and not the juice

Mango juice would be thin and collect at the bottom of the bowl, whereas mango pulp includes the entire flesh of the fruit and keeps the dressing together. At Lang Weinessig, the pulp is listed right after the oil for this reason, and together they give it its creamy consistency. When you open it, you can see the pulp as a light core before it disperses when shaken.

Because the mango is given so much prominence, very little sugar is needed, and the acidity comes from wine rather than lemon. This keeps the sauce closer to the fruit than the bottle and makes it delicious enough to eat by the spoonful. If you let it sit, you’ll see the color settle, and that is exactly how it should be. The result is a condiment that you’ll be wiping off your plate even without the salad.

As a dip for spring rolls and over pineapple

Store the bottle in a cool, dark place and shake it vigorously before use so that the pulp and oil recombine. It shows a different side of itself over grilled pineapple or as a dip for nachos. As a marinade for chicken skewers, it holds up surprisingly well on the grill. Once opened, it will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks without any loss of color. The entire range can be found in the Lang Weinessig collection.