Sweet Sticky Rice and Mango

Sticky rice and mango is the most popular dessert in Thailand and it has become well-known internationally over decades.  Personally, this dessert dish is not really my favorite.  What?  yeah, aren’t you surprise?  It’s my hubby’s favorite.  I thing he likes it because of the sweet and creamy of the coconut rice that perfectly pair well with the perfectly ripe mango.  It’s a delicacy and genius way of mixing these ingredients altogether that turn out to be a perfect dessert that represents the uniqueness of Thailand worldwide.  Choosing the right kind of mango to be served with sweet coconut sticky rice can be really tricky for us who lives in the States.   We usually see mangoes in the market the kind of greenish, reddish color which I assumed they are from South America or known as Mexican mangoes and they are not sweet at all.  

Mexican mangoes usually use in making salsa, chutneys, or relishes, and they are available all year round in the U.S.   The acceptable kind of mango I can find is Manila or Ataulfo mangoes that have a color of butter squash-like yellow when it’s ripe and sweet enough that suitable to pair with the sweet coconut sticky rice,  and they also available all year round at the market in the U.S.  When using Ataulfo mangoes for this dish, you need to let them sit on the kitchen counter for a few days after you brought them home from supermarket, so they can bring out the sweetness in them when they turn a little bit overripe. 

For 4 servings:

2 cups glutinous rice

1 ½  cup coconut milk

1 tsp salt

½ cup palm sugar

4 ripe Ataulfo or Manila mangoes – 1 for each serving

Toasted sesame seeds

How to:

1.  Soak the glutinous rice in water for at least 4 or 6 hours to soften the rice before steaming.
   

2.  Drain the soaked rice and place it in the cheesecloth and put in the steamer – you can use a bamboo steamer or the regular steamer you have. It doesn’t matter what kind of steamer you use, the result will be the same.  However, there is one thing you have to keep in mind is that do not let the boiling water touch the bottom of the top steamer while the rice is cooking, otherwise, the rice will become soggy and unworkable. Let the rice steam for 20 minute in high heat.  The rice is cooked when it becomes soft and translucent. 

3.  Making coconut sauce while the rice is still cooking by mix coconut milk, palm sugar, and salt into the pot and over low heat.  Keep stirring until palm sugar is dissolved and to prevent lumps.  Turn off the heat and set aside the coconut sauce – separate and set aside for 1/3 cup to use when serving.

4.  Once the rice is cooked, transfer the rice into the large bowl using a wooden spoon to gently stir just for a few times to cool the rice down a little bit. 

5.  Pure the coconut sauce into the cooked rice and stir well until the rice soak up all the coconut sauce thoroughly as its cool.

6.  Serve the sweet sticky rice with mango slices and top with coconut sauce that was set aside and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.   Walla!

Enjoy!

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