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I have posted a lot of Vietnamese recipe lately so this time I’m gonna challenge myself with Thai’s cuisine. Or to be precise, Thai’s most popular desert: Mango sticky rice.
I visited Thailand in Summer 2018 but it was not that time that I knew and liked Thai mango sticky rice. Until recently, when I had Thai food with my boyfriend, I tried some and loved it since then, and started learning how to make it at home.
I followed the recipe from Marion’s Kitchen but watching the video was way more fun because her Mama Noi is so adorable and has a good sense of humor. I also happened to find a video showing 7 ways of cooking sticky rice, which was helpful to me as I did not have a steamer. In fact, I have a “multipurpose kitchen kettle” that could be a deep-fry pot, stew pot and steamer. I hang the deep-fry basket on the side of the pot and cover it with the lid so it’s not a proper steamer but still works fine with the amount of sticky rice I used. But to me, the hardest step is not about steaming the rice but choosing the sweet mango! If the mangoes are not sweet (or even more terrible: sour!), they will ruin the dish. Therefore, make sure to pick the sweet mango (super important)!
Ingredients: (for 3 servings)
- Sticky rice (or glutenous rice, sweet rice): 1 cup
- Sweet mango: 3 mangoes
- Coconut milk: 1 can (14 oz)
- Sugar: 1 tablespoon (for soaking) + 4 tablespoons (for dressing)
- Salt: 1/2 teaspoons (for soaking) + 1 teaspoon (for dressing)
- Tapioca flour (or corn starch): 1.5 – 2 tablespoons
Preparation:
- Soak the rice: Rinse the rice several times to wash away any dust and soak the rice in filtered water. The amount of water should be at least double the amount of the rice. Cover and let it sit overnight. The more you soak, the soften the steamed rice.
- Steam the rice:
- Drain the rice and put it into the cheesecloth. Place them in the steamer (or a metal basket, a sieve) and flatten out the rice in the cheesecloth so that it could be steamed evenly later on.
- Bring a water pot to gentle boil (medium-high heat first then reduce to low heat). Place the steamer (with the rice covered in cheesecloth inside) on top of the water pot. Steam for 20 minutes.
- Make the coconut sauce for soaking: In a large bowl, add 1/2 cup of coconut milk (~ 4 oz or ~ 120 mL), 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. (This step is done while the rice is being steamed, less than 5 minutes.)
- When the rice is done, take out and soak in the prepared coconut sauce while it is still hot. Mix well so that the rice is coated with the coconut milk and let it sit for 45 minutes. The steamy rice would absorb all of the sweet coconut milk.
- Making the coconut sauce for dressing: In a small saucepan, combine the remaining coconut milk (~10 oz or ~300 mL), 4 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and the tapioca flour. Place the saucepan on medium-low heat and stir the coconut mixture well to dissolve the sugar and prevent burning. After stirring for about 10 minutes, the sauce will be thickened. Turn off the heat and let it cool down. (This step can be done either while the rice is being steamed or soaked in the coconut milk.)
- When the 45 minutes of soaking is over, it’s time for plating! Place 1/3 of the rice on a plate (or small bowl, tupperware) then place the peeled and cut mango on top or next to the rice, then pour the sweet and salty coconut sauce on top. And enjoy!
Total time: 1 day of soaking the rice in water + 20 minutes of steaming the rice + 45 minutes of soaking the rice in coconut milk
Notes:
- In original recipe, Mana Noi used rice flour, while I used tapioca starch instead. With 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch, my coconut sauce was a little bit too thick so you might want to use about 1 – 1.5 tablespoons.
- If you want the dressing coconut sauce is sweeter, reduce the salt amount.
- While the steamed rice is soaked in the coconut milk, you can mix occasionally so that the rice could absorb the coconut milk more evenly.
Since I know I could make sticky rice with my available cookwares, I start to find other sticky rice recipes. The two I’m gonna try next are Vietnamese dishes: “Xôi mặn” and “Xôi hoa cau” (in Vietnam, we call the sticky rice “xôi”). For your information, Vietnam and Thailand are famous for exporting rice. We have various types of rice and delicious rice recipes, so stay tune!
And that’s it for this recipe. It seems long but it’s very simple. Hope you enjoy this popular Thai’s desert!
Thai mango sticky rice
Equipment
- 1 Steamer highly recommended
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sticky rice (or glutenous rice, sweet rice)
- 3 whole Sweet mango recommend honey mango
- 1 can Coconut milk (14-oz can)
- 5 tbsp Sugar
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- 1.5 – 2 tbsp Tapioca starch (or corn starch)
Instructions
Soak the rice:
- Rinse the rice several times to wash away any dust and soak the rice in filtered water. The amount of water should be at least double the amount of the rice. Cover and let it sit overnight. The more you soak, the soften the steamed rice.
Steam the rice:
- Drain the rice and put it into the cheesecloth. Place them in the steamer (or a metal basket, a sieve) and flatten out the rice in the cheesecloth so that it could be steamed evenly later on.
- Bring a water pot to gentle boil (medium-high heat first then reduce to low heat). Place the steamer (with the rice covered in cheesecloth inside) on top of the water pot. Steam for 20 minutes.
Make the coconut sauce for soaking:
- In a large bowl, add 1/2 cup of coconut milk (~ 4 oz or ~ 120 mL), 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. (This step is done while the rice is being steamed, less than 5 minutes.)
- When the rice is done, take out and soak in the prepared coconut sauce while it is still hot. Mix well so that the rice is coated with the coconut milk and let it sit for 45 minutes. The steamy rice would absorb all of the sweet coconut milk.
Making the coconut sauce for dressing:
- In a small saucepan, combine the remaining coconut milk (~10 oz or ~300 mL), 4 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and the tapioca flour. Place the saucepan on medium-low heat and stir the coconut mixture well to dissolve the sugar and prevent burning. After stirring for about 10 minutes, the sauce will be thickened. Turn off the heat and let it cool down. (This step can be done either while the rice is being steamed or soaked in the coconut milk.)
Serving:
- When the 45 minutes of soaking is over, it’s time for plating! Place 1/3 of the rice on a plate (or small bowl, tupperware) then place the peeled and cut mango on top or next to the rice, then pour the sweet and salty coconut sauce on top. And enjoy!
Notes
- In original recipe, Mana Noi used rice flour, while I used tapioca starch instead. With 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch, my coconut sauce was a little bit too thick so you might want to use about 1 – 1.5 tablespoons.
- If you want the dressing coconut sauce is sweeter, reduce the salt amount.
- While the steamed rice is soaked in the coconut milk, you can mix occasionally so that the rice could absorb the coconut milk more evenly.