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A futuristic Cyberpunk-style food photo with a plate of Thai Mango Sticky Rice in the center. It is surrounded by a spoon, a bowl of sesame, and a bowl of additional sauce.
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5 from 1 vote

Mango Sticky Rice

There's nothing like fruity mango with steamed glutinous rice in a thick and sweet, yet slightly salty sauce.
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Soaking time12 hours
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Thai
Servings: 4 people

Equipment

  • 1 Thai sticky rice steamer or any steamer basket usable for rice
  • 1 cotton cloth or similar so the rice doesn't fall in the water

Ingredients

  • 4 small mangoes or 2-3 larger ones
  • 200 g glutinous Thai rice
  • 400 ml coconut milk usually 1 can
  • 50 g white sugar
  • 2 g salt
  • 60 ml water optional
  • 2 tsp corn starch or tapioca starch optional
  • some black sesame seeds optional

Instructions

Soak the rice (night before!)

  • Rinse the rice briefly once in cold water.
  • Put it into a bowl and add about twice as much water in volume.
  • Store the bowl in the fridge overnight.

Steam the rice

  • Pour out the excess water from the rice bowl.
  • Add the rice to a steamer of your choice (see comments above).
  • Add water to the pot under the steamer basket and set to high heat.
  • Once it's boiling and begins to steam the rice, turn the heat down to medium. Continue to steam the rice for 20-25 minutes.
  • When it's just about done, you should try a grain or two to make sure there is no hard center left inside.
    But until that happens, get the sauce and mangoes ready!

Make the sauce

  • Combine the coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.
  • Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is melted. Do not bring to a boil!
  • If you like the sauce a little thicker (or your coconut milk is very thin), make a slurry by stirring the corn starch into the water, and adding it to the saucepan.
  • Turn off the heat and set the sauce aside.

Cut the mangoes

  • Peel the mangoes. There are many methods for this online, but I recommend using a simple potato peeler.
  • Cut into the flesh past the flat pit on both sides so you have two large slices plus the pit with some additional pulp on it. Detailed instructions in the notes above.
    (For the prettiest result, only serve the two slices. Use the pulp on the pit some other time, or maybe just snack it right now.)
  • Cut the two large pieces of flesh the short way into 1-2 cm wide strips (see photos of results).

Assemble

  • Remove the steamer from the heat and put all the rice into a mid-sized bowl.
  • Add 250ml (1 cup) of the sauce to the rice and mix well so the rice absorbs the sauce. Let cool until the rice is lukewarm.
  • Meanwhile, distribute the mango slices to small plates for serving.
  • If you want, briefly toast the black sesame seeds in a small pan (even though they are pre-toasted) to get them extra fragrant.
  • Distribute the lukewarm rice to the plates next to the mangoes.
  • Pour some more sauce over the rice on the plates. Put the rest on the table for self-service.
  • Sprinkle each plate with sesame seeds. Enjoy!