Thai Sticky Rice with Mango

It's starting to be chilly outside, so I have the uncontrollable urge to make desserts...naturally. Although the it is the cold weather that gave me inspiration, my taste buds are actually clamoring for something tropical: sticky rice with mango. Luckily, I live in the land of plenty, and mangoes are available most times of the year, so I'm going with it. Glutinous rice is available in Thai and Indonesian groceries, and also in many pan-Asian groceries in NYC. It comes in big bags, so I've been working through my stash of it for maybe two years now. Glutinous refers to its "gluey-ness," not to gluten. So, my gluten-intolerant friends, you may partake in this dessert!

Ingredients
1 and 1/2 C. Glutinous Rice (also sold as sticky rice or sweet rice)
About 1 and 1/2 or 2 T. Coconut Sugar (get it where you get the sticky rice--or substitute regular white sugar)
1/2 tsp. or so Salt
1 can Coconut Milk
A Mango

Method
Start early! You must soak the rice for 6 to 8 hours. First, rinse it at least three times until the water that runs off the rice is pretty clear. Then cover the rice with water and let it soak.

Once your rice it soaked, drain the water and wrap the rice in cheese cloth. Now, if you have a Thai wicker basket for making Thai sticky rice, you are probably not reading this blog to get the recipe, so I will assume that you (like I) do not have one. I use the steaming tray on my rice cooker to do this. Put your bundle of rice in its cheese cloth bundle on your steaming tray and give a good steam--about 20 to 30 minutes, or even longer, depending on your steamer. You will know it's done when it's a little translucent, steamy hot, and sticky.

In the meantime, make this sauce: heat the cocnut milk on the stove, stirring in the salt and sugar until it's hot and the salt and sugar are dissolved (this is so easy!!). Slice your mango.

When the rice is ready, you can unwrap it, and put it in a bowl of some sort. (At this point it's a good idea to steal a little, mash it into a ball with your fingers and eat it. No one will know!) Mix most of the coconut milk sauce into the rice. To serve, spoon some rice on to each plate--I use an ice cream scoop to make pretty little scoops--and arrange some mango nearby on the plate. Spoon the remaining coconut milk sauce over each dish of rice and mango.

Food photos

I wanted to print and frame these two photos I took in a wet market in Singapore, and hang them in the kitchen. However, the people with whom I live vetoed the plan. I post these B&W photos taken with 35 mm film here instead. Maybe I can hang them in the living room?