Sticky Rice with Mango

Sticky rice and mango is a marketplace favorite and not to be missed if you visit the country! If you take a trip to Thailand don't miss this very popular hawker (marketplace) food! The sticky rice is infused with sweetened coconut milk and top with fresh fruit, usually mangoes but also durian fruit is popular though less common.

Ingredients

2 cups glutinous (sticky) rice, soaked in cold water for at least one hour and drained

1 1/4 cups coconut milk, canned or freshly prepared

A pinch of salt

2 Tblsp. of sugar

2 large ripe mangoes, peeled and sliced

Preparation

In a saucepan bring to a boil: rice, coconut milk, salt, sugar and 1 1/4 cup water. Stir. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, about 8-10 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Transfer rice to a steamer or double saucepan and steam 15-20 minutes over boiling water, until rice is cooked through. Mold the cooked rice into individual ramekins or small cups lined with plastic wrap. Cool to room temperature. At serving time unmold onto a plate and top with mango or even strawberries.

Notes: An Asian conical shaped bamboo basket and aluminium pot stove top steamer works best for this recipe, ensuring that your rice turns out light, fluffy and perfectly cooked through. The steamer set will simplify cooking and noticeably improve the quality of the finished dish.

If you compare sticky rice cooked in a conventional stove-top steamer side by side with rice from the Thai steamer the difference is apparent; rice cooked in the conventional steamer will be too moist and mushy in places and tough and underdone in others.

Commonly called a Thai sticky rice steamer, the bamboo or reed conical basket fits snugly on top of the aluminum steaming pot. It fits perfectly on a stove-top burner and steams the sticky rice efficiently and thoroughly. For a passionate cook, the sticky rice steamer is indispensable.