Mango Cucumber Salad (Asian)

Salad sauce

• 2 Tablespoons white sugar Substitute: neutral honey. I don't recommend brown sugar.
• 4 Tablespoons hot water To dissolve the white sugar
• 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
• 1½-2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice I like calamansi lime but you can use key lime juice, rice vinegar or 1 of these substitutes.
• 3-4 garlic cloves Peeled and minced
• 1 fresh red chilies Optional. Deseed and slice thinly

Salad ingredients

• 1 ripe mango Peeled, de-seeded and cut into ½ inch cubes. Flesh should be firm but not hard. Ripe mangoes emit a sweet smell and you may see some juice flowing out even when the mango is uncut. You can use more mango if you want a sweeter salad but I find 1 is enough as this is a summer side dish not dessert!
• 1 Japanese cucumber Cut into ½ inch cubes. No need to skin or de-seed. Substitute: English cucumber or Persian Cucumber. I don't recommend conventional cucumber as they have thicker skin and bigger seeds- you will need to skin with a potato peeler and de-seed to get the same taste. (More work!)
• ¼-½ red onion Peeled and minced. You can use other onions or shallots. If you find the raw taste too pungent, soak in ice water for 5-10 minutes to soften the flavor.
• 1 prig spring onions Sliced. Substitute or supplement with cilantro, mint or 1 of these scallion substitutes
• 20 cherry tomatoes Quartered. You can substitute with bell peppers- if so, use more mango as bell peppers aren't as sweet as cherry tomatoes.