Thai Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango

Mango sticky rice is probably one of  , if not the most  popular Thai  dessert there is. Anybody who have been to Thailand or visited a good Thai restaurant must have tasted and fell in love with this simple yet sumptuous  treat.

What's not to love anyway? Light and  tasty rice, sweet and velvety mango, all drizzled  in this silky and slightly salty coconut cream sauce . Lastly,  that addictive crunchy mung bean is just well, a cherry on top. This is one of those very, very rare dishes that nobody seemed to hate. Even those who aren't much of the rice eater or for some reason, don't like mango, still end up giving this humbling dish,  a thumbs up.

I ate this dessert almost every day when I was in Bangkok last month and somehow missed it. Well, after reading this blog,  you must already know that nothing comes between me and my food melancholy. So I searched for recipes, look for the much needed ingredients and even hunt down authentic looking cooking apparatus ! Thanks Amazon! The only thing that's missing are Thai mangoes but hey, I guess I simply have to make do with what I could get my claw into.

So today, I finally make mango sticky rice and  It was just divine......

Ingredients:

For the Sticky  Rice:

500 g glutinous rice

2 1/2 cups coconut milk

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp. salt

5 pandan leaves

Salty coconut sauce:

3/4 cup coconut milk

1 tsp. rice flour dissolved in 2 tbsp. water

1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar

Others:

1 tbsp. peeled split mung bean
Aaaaand as much mangoes as you can eat!

Let's get cooking! 

1. Prepare crunchy mung bean toppings. Wash yellow mung bean . Put in a sauce pan, fill sauce pan with  1 cup of water bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat , cover sauce pan and let mung bean simmer in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and spread on paper towel.

2. In a not stick pan or skillet, toast mung bean until crispy. Takes 8-10 minutes. Set aside. If you can not fine peeled mung beans in your place, toast some sesame seeds instead, it will be just as delicious.

4.  Wash and thoroughly rinse glutinous rice until water runs clear. This will help to get rid of the extra starch. Soak rice in water for at least 4 hours. I soaked mine overnight.

5. Drain rice well. Try not to overwork the rice at this point since the rice grains are quite brittle.

6. Steam rice for 25 minutes. I used this traditional bamboo steamer I bought from the internet. If you don't have a steamer , use the sieve ( picture number 5) . Just make sure to cover it well.

 7. When the rice is almost cooked, make coconut syrup. In a saucepot, put 2 1/2 cups coconut milk, 1 cup sugar, salt and panda leaves. Bring to a gentle boil , cook until  sugar dissolves. Takes less than 5 minutes!

.8. Transfer hot steamed rice in a container/bowl . Pour just cooked coconut syrup.

9.  Mix carefully until no lumps are formed or until rice grains are soaked in the sweet syrup. put panda leave. The rice is wet and '' soupy'' at this stage but the rice will absorb the liquid soon enough. Cover  tightly and let it set for 30 minutes. The rice will be ready then.

10. For the sauce. Put 3/4 cup coconut milk in a sauce pan, add 1/2  teaspoon salt and 1 tsp. sugar. I fished  pandan leaves  out from the sticky rice and put it into the pan for some extra flavour.

11. Dissolve rice flour in 2 tbsp. of water. Add into the coconut milk. Stir.  Bring sauce to a boil, simmer gently until it thickens and until sugar and salt are dissolved. Do not overcook.

Peel and slice mangoes  . Now, for the fun bit, assemble the elements unto a plate!

Let your inner domestic goddess reign for 5 minutes. Empress your loved ones or guests by plating this dessert as beautiful as it deserves.