Name: Mango Sticky Rice
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2-4
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 1 - 2 Fresh Mangos; 1 can coconut milk; 1 cup glutinous rice; sugar to taste

Mango sticky rice is pretty much ubiquitous with the city of Chiang Mai. Everywhere you go in northern Thailand, from restaurants to small stalls at the night markets, you’ll find this sweet coconut milk soaked dessert. It is such a simple dish with only three ingredients: fresh sliced mango, rice, and coconut milk.

While I’ve always loved indulging in mango sticky rice when visiting Thailand or dining out at a Thai restaurant, I’d never tried making sticky rice at home as I assumed the sticky rice would be complicated or time-consuming. I was recently pleasantly surprised to find out how easy it is to make.

Pick The Right Kind Of Rice – Glutinous Rice

Back home in Florida, summertime is mango season and my mother-in-law always shares with us the bounty of mangoes that grow in her yard by the coast. So this summer, I thought I’d give homemade sticky rice a try.

First, you’ve got to find the right type of rice. Plain long grain white rice that you normally find at the grocery store won’t be the same. Look for glutinous rice at your local Asian market (they sell glutinous rice on Amazon too). It looks a bit opaque and feels lighter and a bit hallow. It’s named glutinous, not because it contains gluten, but because it is sticky when cooked. (In addition to mango sticky rice, you can also toast it and grind into a nutty-flavored powder to add to laab — that that’s another Thai cooking story)

Sticky Rice Steamer Pot

When I was researching sticky rice, I was a little intimidated by the sticky rice steamer pot. And I have to confess, I just did a major purge in our kitchen in the name of wannabe minimalism. But I’m considering this a “necessity,” and when I flip the bamboo cone over the pot for storage, it looks like I have a little kitchen samurai hiding in the corner. Now I just need to name it.

You can also just cook it in your rice maker or pressure cooker and follow the manufacturers instructions for short grain rice.

Making Sticky Rice

To make mango sticky rice traditionally with the bamboo steamer, you’ll need to soak the rice for 6-8 hours. So either prep it to soak overnight or set it to soak first thing in the morning to be ready around dinner time. I usually pour a cup of glutenous rice into a measuring bowl, add water until it reaches two cups, then cover it with a paper towel. It takes less than a minute.

Once the rice as soaked, it takes about the same cooking time as making regular rice. Add water to the steamer pot until it’s about two inches deep (you don’t want it to touch the cone … your steaming the rice, not boiling it.) Bring the water to a boil, than add the rice to the cone, and place the cone on the pot, then cover with any small lid from one of your other pan sets. Let it steam for 30 minutes, and then you’re done!

TIP #1: I’ve made the rice using just the bamboo steamer basket, and I’ve also wrapped it in cheesecloth and then put it in the bamboo steamer. The cheesecloth makes it a bit easier to handle and to clean up. Plus, you’ll need to flip the rice about 20 minutes into cooking, and picking up a ball of cheesecloth-wrapped rice with tongs makes it easy.

TIP #2: Use oven mitts and tongs when handling the steamer after the rice has cooked. The steam releases pretty quickly, but this will prevent burning your fingertips and make it easier to handle the rice.

Make a whole Thai dinner night with our recipe for Chiang Mai Curry Noodles, Thai cucumber salad, or Nam Sod (Ginger Lime Pork).