Having grown up in a household with multiple Asian relatives, cutting a mango to me has always been a no-brainer, but I’ve had enough friends over the years tell me of their mango disasters that I’m going to do a quick tutorial on it. Once you learn the basic steps you’ll see that it is simple, easy to remember, and will take you just minutes to do. This is NOT a tutorial on doing fancy-pants plating or on cutting up your mango into food art. This will teach you a no-fuss way to cut up a mango without butchering it. This works for a firm mango, there is another technique for soft mangos.

Step 1: Give the mango a quick rinse under water and then use a sharp vegetable peeler (or knife) to carefully peel the skin.

Step 2: Slice off the stem end, cutting a little into the flesh. You can now stand your mango upright for safer cutting.

Step 3: Take a look at how it isn’t a perfect circle when viewed from one end. Line it up on the cutting board so that it appears more tall than wide.

Step 4: While it is on the board, align your knife so that it is just a little off from the center of the mango. The seed, not round, is a very long and skinny oval when viewed from above (as in the picture). Cut along one side of it, adjusting your cut by feeling for a fibrous resistance. When the resistance increases you are too close to the seed.

Step 5: Do the same to the other side and then cut the mango meat off the seed’s remaining edges. You can gently slice off or nibble on the remaining mango from the seed before you discard it. Slice the two main halves of the mango meat into nice spears and serve!