What Thai food taught me.......

Thai Sticky Rice with Mangoes -Khaaw neow ma-muang 

That rice can be a dessert, and it doesn't always have to be pastry or dairy to be considered dessert.
While in Florida... ( i know its beginning to feel like the entire trip was about food) .. we went to this Thai restaurant, the SO had been raving about a particular dessert they sold that apparently contained some sort of rice and mangoes, of course my interest was piqued, turned out it was a "famous" dessert that i had never heard of, Thai Sticky Rice with Mangoes -Khaaw neow ma-muang.



It was sweet coconuty sticky rice, with a coconut cream and toasted sesame seeds and for some reason its always served with freshly sliced mangoes.
The rice was al-dente in texture, not too sweet to be overpowering but sweet enough to be a delicious dessert, The coconut cream was not extra thick, it flowed almost to the texture of a good Crème anglaise.
I fell in love with it immediately, noted to myself to find a good recipe and give it a try when i got back home.
and so i did,

Heres the rceipe.

Ingredients serves 2

1/2 cup of rice Short grain rice

3/4 cup of Coconut milk

1 1/3 tbsp of Palm sugar

1 1/2 tsp of White sugar

1/4 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of corn starch

1 Mango, washed, peeled and sliced like in the picture

1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds ( you can toast them in a fry pan for a few minutes over medium-high heat)

First soak rice in water for at least 2 hours before cooking.

Use a steamer to steam rice over boiling water for 20 minutes, i didn't have a sticky rice steamer so i improvise and used a regular steamer , i covered the holes with a cheese cloth so the rice doesn't fall through, if you don't have a cheese cloth, you can use cling film, trust me it works.

While the rice is steaming prepare both sauces, you would need a thin sauce to create the sticky rice and a thicker coconut cream sauce for topping.

To create the thin sauce, add 1/2 cup of coconut milk to a pot with the brown sugar and salt and stir over low heat until dissolved.

To prepare the coconut cream sauce, add the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut milk, white sugar and a pinch of alt into a pot and stir over low heat until dissolved, mix the corn starch with a little bit of water to form a smooth paste the add into the coconut mixture, stir until thickened and no lumps are present, then remove from heat.

By now the rice should have steamed, In a shallow bowl, lay rice and spread flat, add the thin sauce gradually , keep stirring as you add the sauce till you reach saturation point, you will probably use almost all the sauce, just make sure it isn't very wet, you want it somewhat dry and sticky, don't add until its submerged but keep in mind that the rice will absorb some of the liquid, i added until i just started to see coconut milk appear at the top. Stir well and cover for 10-15minutes with a towel.

Serve with the coconut cream and top with sesame seeds, and a side of sliced cool mangoes.