Sticky Rice, You Will Not Defeat Me!
Oh, sticky rice. Forever the bane of my existence! I made this gorgeous looking plate of coconut sticky rice for my friend April's baby shower over the weekend. Guests oohed and aahd over its elegant presentation, the bright colors, the borage flowers plucked from my neighbor Jean's backyard. Alas, I made a chef's fatal mistake: I failed to taste it before I put it out for the party goers. *Gasp.* My cooking professors would be none to pleased with me. I sampled the rice and the coconut mixture separately, but not the dish as a whole. It wasn't until the last reveler had gone that I took a bite of the very chewy sticky rice, wondering how it tasted, and discovered (oh cripes!) my error.
I am pretty sure the problem arose when I left the rice in it's steaming vessel (for more than an hour) with the lid on while I prepared the other dishes for the meal, causing the rice to toughen. Next time, that rice will be plunged into the coconut milk tout de suite. The rest of the Asian-themed meal turned out fantastic. It was only my nemesis, sticky rice, that taunted me yet again. Sticky rice, be warned: You will not defeat me!
Coconut Milk Sticky Rice With Mangoes
Ingredients:
3 cups sticky rice, soaked overnight in water or thin coconut milk and drained
2 cups canned or fresh coconut milk
3/4 cup palm sugar, or substitute brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 ripe mangoes, or substitute sliced ripe peaches or papayas
Mint or Asian basil sprigs for garnish (optional)
Directions:
1. Steam the sticky rice until tender.
2. Meanwhile, place the coconut milk in a heavy pot and heat over medium heat until hot. Do not boil. Add the sugar and salt and stir to dissolve completely.
3. When the sticky rice is tender, turn it out into a bowl and pour 1 cup of the hot coconut milk over; reserve the rest. Stir to mix the liquid into the rice, then let stand for 20 minutes to an hour to allow the flavors to blend.
4. Meanwhile, peel the mangoes. The mango pit is flat and you want to slice the mango flesh off the pit as cleanly as possible. One at a time, lay the mangoes on a narrow side on a cutting board and slice lengthwise about 1/2 inch from the center — your knife should cut just along the flat side of the pit; if it strikes the pit, shift over a fraction of an inch more until you can slice downward. Repeat on the other side of the pit, giving you two hemispherical pieces of mango. (The cook gets to snack on the stray bits of mango still clinging to the pit.) Lay each mango half flat and slice thinly crosswise.
5. To serve individually, place an oval mound of sticky rice on each dessert plate and place a sliced half-mango decoratively beside it. Top with a sprig of mint or basil if you wish. Or, place the mango slices on a platter and pass it around, together with a serving bowl containing the rice, allowing guests to serve themselves. Stir the remaining sweetened coconut milk thoroughly, transfer to a small serving bowl or cruet, and pass it separately, with a spoon, so guests can spoon on extra as they wish.
Notes: You can substitute black Thai sticky rice for half the white rice. Soak the two rices together; the white rice will turn a beautiful purple as it takes on color from the black rice. Cooking will take 10 minutes longer.
Unlike plain sticky rice, Coconut Milk Sticky Rice has enough moisture and oils in it that it keeps well for 24 hours, in a covered container in the refrigerator, without drying out. Rewarm it the next day by steaming or in a microwave.
For expert instructions (i.e. not mine) on how to make sticky rice, refer to my previous post.
Recipe credit: Jeffrey Alford, Hot Sour Salty Sweet, October 2000
Photo credit: StellaCadente*
--StellaCadente*
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JD on February 03, 2010 at 05:58 AM
Don't worry you'll eventually get it down. What I've found when making this dish is
1) Wait until serving to add the coconut milk mixture.
2)Instead when the rice is finished cooking add to a mixture of hot sugar water (like 3/4 cup water 1/3 cup sugar for 100 grams rice). This will make it sweeter and won't affect the rice texture as much. Let this sit and cool for awhile. I'm not sure why this seems to work differently except my chemistry tell me it's something to do with the osmolarity of the sugar water.
StellaCadente* on February 03, 2010 at 11:18 AM
Thanks, JD. You've got my back!