Have you ever had a craving for something you’ve never actually had before?
…Because that happened to me the other day. I cannot recall ever having sweet sticky rice, in my life, but for whatever reason, I wanted it more than anything! Cue me breaking out my giant, authentic, Thai recipe book that I’m kind of obsessed with.
This is a pretty simple recipe, in that it doesn’t involve a ton of ingredients. But, it can be a little tricky to prepare if you, like me, don’t actually own a bamboo sticky rice steamer…or you know…any sort of steamer…
I really could have sworn I owned some kind of steamer but alas—nope! So, I improvised! I lined a fine mesh sieve with two layers of cheesecloth, and put the soaked rice in that. Then, I rested inside a large pot, with simmering water a few inches below. The lid was a little wonky fitting but it worked well enough! I was able to steam the rice!
If you are unsure what sweet rice is, this is what the type I use looks like:
It’s also called “glutinous rice.”
This dessert is so super tasty, and it definitely satiated my bizarre craving! It’s not overly sweet, but just sweet enough. Super ripe mangoes make it even better. Of course, if you don’t have mangoes, any other fruit would do—even bananas sound like they’d be super delicious with it! This dessert also happens to be completely vegan, though not by design.
I chose to garnish my sticky rice with black sesame for a tiny bit of crunch, and contrasting color, but something like toasted coconut would also be lovely.
Yield: serves 4-8
recipe adapted from The Food of Thailand --- a journey for food lovers