I love mangoes and I love sticky rice. I’m not sure there’s a better combination than this Thai dessert. I’ll be honest, even though I’ve had coconut sticky rice and mango separately countless times, I had never put the two together until I was developing this recipe. One of my favorite childhood memories is eating freshly picked mango in Taiwan on the beach. We were so lucky to be staying at a small bed & breakfast that also happened to grow mangoes in its backyard. The couple running the B&B sent us off to the beach with a giant basket full of mangoes for breakfast – it’s probably one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had to this day. Unfortunately, delicious mangoes are hard to come by in the United States. You really have to be on either the East Coast or West Coast to get good mangoes year round. I would definitely recommend making this recipe during the summer months, for the sweetest mangoes, but if you’re hankering for mango sticky rice in the dead of winter, this recipe will definitely cure it.
Traditional mango sticky rice recipes are very high in sugar (and delicious, don’t get me wrong!) but sometimes, it’s just nice to have a decadent dessert that doesn’t fulfill your weekly sugar allowance. One of the best things about mango is that it generally has a high sugar content. This is the reason why for my recipe, I can add so little sugar, and still have such a delicious dessert. In order to take full advantage of the high sugar content, I’m going to recommend that you use Champange mangoes. These are a smaller, yellow-er variety than the typical mango you probably know. It’s much sweeter and less fibrous, making it perfect for mango sticky rice.
If you’ve ever tried to look up a recipe for sticky rice before, I’m sure you’ve seen that there are a bajillion different ways to make it. This is the way my grandma taught me, and also the least time consuming method I’ve seen so far. While a lot of recipes call for soaking the sweet rice overnight and then steaming, I’ve shortened the soaking to just a couple hours and then cooking just like traditional rice. Much faster! Traditionally, coconut sticky rice relies on been drenched in sweetened coconut cream to impart its flavor, but I’ve cut down on the fat content and sugar content by cooking the sweet rice in coconut milk to give it the coconut flavor, and then just a few spoonfuls of coconut cream to top everything at the end.
For those who are making sticky rice for the first time, when you’re purchasing the rice to make sticky rice, it will actually be labeled as sweet rice, not sticky rice. Deceiving, I know! I’m not sure why it’s labeled sweet rice, but now that you know, you’ll be a pro at navigating the rice section of a supermarket!
Alright, well let’s get too it!
COCONUT STICKY RICE WITH MANGO | Makes enough for 3-4 people
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Champange mango – sliced into wedges and chilled
- 1 cup sweet rice – uncooked
- 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup coconut cream
- 2 tbsp granulated white sugar
DIRECTIONS
- Place sweet rice into a mixing bowl and cover with water (all the rice should be submerged). Let sweet rice soak for two hours.
- At the end of two hours, drain sweet rice and let sit in a strainer for 20 minutes.
- Place drained sweet rice into a rice cooker or medium-sized pot and add in 1 1/2 cup coconut milk. If you’re using a rice cooker, simply press the on button and wait for rice to cook. If you’re cooking over the stove top, bring coconut milk to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. This should be around 20 minutes or so.
- Once rice is cooked, let cool (I usually spread it out on a plate so it cools faster).
- Combine coconut cream and sugar. Microwave for 60 seconds so the cream is hot enough to dissolve the sugar.
- Once rice is cool, simply arrange a scoop of sticky rice and several slices of mango on a plate. Top with a couple spoonfuls of the coconut cream.
Enjoy!
dumplings&donuts 