mango with sticky rice

 

mmm, one of my favorite desserts on the planet, and so easy to make! this is the most successful sticky rice i've ever made - and i did it in the microwave. i'm sure it would be even better with a real sticky rice steamer, but i'm working with what i've got. (but hey, it's only a month or so until my birthday, hinthint...) the microwave worked like a dream, and so fast - i could whip this up before elephant thai got here with my order. and cheap!

serves 4.

2 ripe mangoes

1 cup sticky rice (glutenous rice)
2 tbsp. sugar
2 pinches sea salt
1 can coconut milk
toasted sesame seeds to garnish

put the rice in a glass bowl with enough water to cover it by 1cm. should be a little more than a cup. let it soak for at least 10 minutes. skip soaking at your own peril! bring coconut milk to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-low heat. stir frequently, don't let it boil. add sugar and salt, and remove from heat. now to slice up those mangoes.

make sure they're really ripe, like the guy on the right here. i like to refrigerate them for a little while so that the temperature contrasts with the hot rice. use a sharp knife, and slice away from your hand - mango is slippery! first, slice off the 'butt' of the mango (the part with the little stem). then skin it in strips, leaving as much of the fruit intact as possible. slice in towards the seed all the way around the edge, then slice each half off of the seed - it helps to rest the mango on its butt on the cutting board. slice each half into four pieces. anything left on the seed belongs to the chef. nom!

after all that mango-wrasslin', the rice should be all done soaking. cover the bowl with a microwave safe plate (not plastic) and microwave for 3 minutes. using oven mitts, take the bowl out of the microwave and remove the plate. stir rice, recover, and microwave another 3 minutes. take it out and stir it again - be very careful, that steam is hot! depending on your microwave, it might need a little more time. mine needed another 2.5 minutes. have a large, clean dish and bamboo rice paddle or large wooden spoon standing by. use those mitts and carefully transfer the hot sticky rice into the waiting dish. use the paddle to stir it up and get rid of some of that steam.

gradually pour about 3/4 of the coconut milk into the sticky rice while mixing it. don't let it get too saturated. cover and let sit for 5 minutes so the rice will absorb the delicious. place sliced mango on a plate, scoop on some rice, and pour some of the remaining coconut milk over top. top rice with toasted or black sesame seeds or toasted rice, and serve immediately! sticky rice will not save in the refrigerator - it turns into an unusable mass. if you need to make the rice ahead of time, it will be okay on a cool counter top for a few hours.