Mango Sticky Rice: Party Style

My favorite desserts typically have French or Italian influences.  Pot de crème, crème brulee, chocolate souffle, and a berry crisp topped with ice cream are a few of my favorites.  Although I love all types of Asian food, I don’t like very many Asian desserts.  Mango Sticky Rice is a Thai dessert and an exception.  It is a simple dessert and my sister in law, Autaiwan (aka Kay) taught me how to make it for our party.  Kay likes to cook without measurements so I am doing my best to provide the amounts, but tasting is always important. 

Ingredients:
3 cups of sweet rice
4-6 mangos
1 can of coconut milk
2 1/2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt

 Important Equipment:
*Thai steaming basket
*Thai steaming pot
Sharp knife

 *You can order the steaming basket and pot on the Internet

Soak sweet rice in a bowl of cold water for at least 4 hours.  If you don’t have that much time on your hands, you can actually soak the rice in warm water for about an hour.  When you are ready to cook the rice, boil a few inches of water in the steamer pot.  Drain the rice and pour the rice in a steaming basket.   Place the steaming basket on top of the pot, cover the top with a lid, and steam for about 15 minutes on medium low heat. 

In another small pot, heat up the coconut milk with sugar and salt.  Continue to stir under medium low heat until the sugar melts and the liquid thickens.  This is where tasting is essential and you can add more or less of the ingredients. 

When the rice is ready, remove it from the basket and place into another pot. Slowly pour in the coconut milk mixture.  We poured half of the liquid first and then added enough additional milk to barely coat through.   We ended up using approximately 3/4 of the milk mixture.  Stir with a large spoon and ensure that you are mixing it well enough to coat every piece of rice.  You want to try to separate the rice as best as you can.  Cover the pot for about 20 minutes. 

After the 20 minutes have elapsed, transfer your rice onto a platter. 

Cut the skin of the ripe mango (orange ones) with a sharp knife.  This takes precision and you need to hold the mango lightly or it will mash.  Cut through the mango right above the core, and slice them into even pieces.  Place the sliced pieces of mango on top of the sticky rice.  Turn the mango over and cut through the mango on the other side on top of the core, and slice that half into even pieces.  Place the sliced pieces of mango on top of the sticky rice.  We used about 6 mangos.