Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Thai Coconut Sticky Rice and Mango ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง


For most Asian families, it is common to have fruits at the end of a meal as desert. I grew up eating fruits as desert often and this is one my favorite Asian sweet treats with fruit! Being Asian and a rice lover, I can't get enough of this simple Thai desert consists of yummy sticky rice soaked with sweet aromatic coconut milk, and topped with a very tropical fruit, mango. What a Genius idea to put all the very common ingredients of the tropical South East Asia together in a sweet way.

The recipe I use is below and it is easy to follow. It is also from one of my favorite Thai food blogs so check it out!

Recipe:

Author: 

Prep time:  
Cook time:  
Total time:  
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • ½ cup raw Thai sticky rice (no substitute), soaked for 10 minutes, drained, and rinsed to get rid of excess starch ( I soak my rice for at least 2 hours)
  • ½ cup good coconut milk
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • One perfectly ripe good mango (preferably Ataulfo), peeled and cut into thick slices
Directions
  1. Put the rice in a heatproof bowl and steam in a steamer, over medium heat, for about 20 minutes (based on one half cup of rice). The rice should be cooked through with no hard, raw bits in the middle of the grains. You can also cook the sticky rice without a steamer, using the splatter guard method.
  2. Turn off the heat and let the rice stay in the steamer, with the lid on, while you prepare the coconut milk.
  3. In a heatproof bowl, heat the coconut milk, sugar, and salt in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. The sugar should completely dissolve and the mixture should be very hot.
  4. Take the sticky rice out of the steamer. Pour the hot coconut mixture on top of the rice and gently stir. (It may look like your rice is drowned in coconut water, but the liquid will all be absorbed.) Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the mixture stand at room temperature, undisturbed, for half an hour.
  5. The coconut sticky rice is to be served at room temperature along with fresh mango. The sesame seeds are optional.
  6. The rice can be refrigerated and reheated in the microwave, but the texture of reheated sticky rice isn’t as good as it is when freshly made. Freezing sticky rice is not recommended.
It is really best served warm after making it rather than re heated.