Mango with Sticky Rice (Kao Niao Mumuang)

Thai Translation - Khao = Rice, Niao = Sticky, Mamuang = Mango

This traditional Thai dessert (desserts are called khanom in Thai) is very creamy and refreshing. The juicy sweet mango combined with a coconut sticky rice makes it a delight to eat and everyone will enjoy it. It is perfect to use with leftover sticky rice. This dish isparticularly popular with Thai people around Thai New Year which is in April. This is when the mangos are ripening and are in an abundance and are eaten every which way.

Sticky rice is a special type of glutinous rice that is eaten predominantly in the northern and north eastern areas of Thailand but is also eaten in Laos, Vietnam and Burma. It is young rice and has a different appearance to other, regular rice and is cooked differently. It is sometimes called glutinous rice because of the sticky glue-like properties it has when it is cooked, not because it contains gluten. Sticky rice is steamed rather than boiled like other rice and is used to eat curries, salads and stir-fry's instead of cutlery. If sticky rice is cooked well, the rice grains will stick to one another and not to the hands. 

Ingredients

1 cup glutinous rice

Water

1 mango

1 tsp salt

1 cup coconut cream

2 tsp sugar

Method

To make sticky rice

1. Place the rice in a bowl and cover with water. Soak for minimum 4 hours, but better to soak overnight.
2. Once the rice has soaked, place a pot with water on medium to high heat. Place your steamer over the top and cover with a piece of cheese cloth or muslin cloth. Pour the rice over the cloth and cover with The lid of the steamer. Cook for 20 minutes or until the rice appears translucent.
3. Remove rice from the steamer and place in a bowl. Do not refrigerate.

To make dessert

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the coconut cream to boiling. Add the sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Add 1 cup of sticky rice and mix to combine, ensuring all lumps are removed and all the rice is coated with the coconut cream
2. Turn off heat and set aside for approximately 15min. The rice will appear a little sloppy but the rice will absorb the coconut milk.
3. Cut the mango in half, being careful of the seed. Remove the skin and slice the mango thinly. And place on your plate for serving.
4. When your rice is ready, place some beside the mango on your plate and garnish to serve.