Khao Niew Mamuang (Sticky Rice & Mango)

Okay so it’s about time I did a dessert, even though I’ll admit I’m not a big dessert person. Thai desserts (to me anyway) seem to fall into three categories, heavy starch based dishes; usually sweetened, such as this one, incredibly sweet confectionery based ones or prepared fruits. There’s also the ubiquitous Thai pancake which is always popular with visiting tourist, usually filled with combinations of bananas and condensed milk. This one should be familiar to anyone who’s ever had rice pudding.


For two servings use:

• 1 ripe mango, peeled and cut in half (cut either side of the stone) and cut into wedges.


• 1 cup of rice (risotto, sushi, sweet or Thai sticky) all work


• 200ml of coconut milk (if using a tin, freeze the other half)


• 50g sugar

Start this the day/night before. Put the rice in a bowl of cold water and leave covered to soak until you want to start making the sticky rice. When you’re ready to start drain, (but don’t rinse) the rice. Now I don’t have a rice steamer, if you do, congratulations; follow the instructions on how to use it. Otherwise, get a pan of water boiling, place the drained rice in a sieve over the boiling water, making sure the water is sitting below the level of the sieve, cover it with a tight fitting lid and begin steaming the rice for 30-45 minutes until it’s soft and sticky. While it’s steaming, in a small part, gently heat the coconut milk and sugar until the sugar has dissolved.


When the rice is done, scrape it out into a bowl, pour over half of the sweetened coconut milk, cover it over and leave it to absorb for another 10 minutes or so.


When you’re ready to serve, place a spoonful of the coconut sticky rice next to the sliced mango and drizzle over the rest of the coconut milk.