If you've never tried Sticky Rice with Mango, maybe it doesn't look like much. At least that's what I thought at first. The white rice plus orange fruit combination always reminded me of a Filipino dessert, Kutsinta, which are tiny orange-colored flavorless steamed rice cakes topped with shredded coconut. I absolutely hate them. I can't express the disappointment I would feel when I would peel back the tin foil on one of the party trays full of leftovers my grandma would bring back only to find it filled with, not lumpia, but THE ORANGE NON-DESSERT-DESSERT FROM SATAN. So this put me off trying sticky rice with mango for quite some time. Only while in Thailand (which you can read about HERE) did I finally try it and fall in love with it. Warm, perfectly sticky rice swimming in a sauce of coconut cream and condensed milk, then topped with the most tender, juicy and vibrant mango steaks is unbelievably comforting and decadent. Without Thai mangoes, I was able to recreate this dish closely enough to satisfy the craving for it -I used mangoes from Mexico because that's all my local store had- but if you can get your hands on some Thai mangoes, well then I'm jealous of how perfect this recipe will be for you.

I had never used a bamboo steamer before this recipe and I was so excited to finally try it out. Usually when something calls for steaming, I use the plastic steaming insert that came with my rice cooker, which usually leads to mushy or inconsistent results since I can't really control the steaming process very much. Enter the Joyce Chen bamboo steamer from MASSDROP- sturdy, perfect, and easy to control since it is placed on top of a boiling pot of water on your stove top. Cleanup was amazingly simple too- since you never want to put a bamboo steamer in the dishwasher, I just brushed off any stray pieces of rice that got caught and then let the trays air dry on my counter top. Does anyone else hate washing their rice cooker? I was so happy to not have to do that!

*This post was sponsored by MASSDROP, a startup in San Francisco that just rolled out their newest product community - Cooking. The more people who bid on a certain item, the lower the price gets . Right now they have a sous vide machine up on there which I'm pretty sure is every foodies dream kitchen appliance. All opinions are of course,my own, and thank you for supporting the companies that help support this blog!

RECIPE

STICKY RICE WITH MANGO

2 cups sweet/glutinous rice (if you can’t find this kind of rice, jasmine rice will do)
2 cups coconut cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup toasted coconut chips
2 large mangoes
Condensed milk, for garnish

1. Rinse rice until water runs clear, then soak rice in cool water for a minimum of 3 hours or up to overnight.
2. Line bamboo steamer with cheesecloth and add rice in an even layer.
3. Place steamer on top of a medium pot filled with boiling water. If you are worried about the water evaporating before the rice is fully steamed, you can add a few coins to your water, which will make noise when there is water in the pot, and stop when it has run out of water.
4. Steam rice for 30 minutes or until it is tender and translucent.
5. While the rice is steaming, simmer coconut cream and sugar together until sugar is dissolved. Once rice is finished steaming, put in a bowl and pour coconut cream mixture over it and let sit for 30 minutes.
6. Peel, pit, and slice mangoes.
7. To toast coconut chips, place on a baking tray and bake for 1-2 minutes in a 325 degree oven. They burn quickly so keep an eye on them!
8. Serve rice using an ice cream scoop or a 1/4 c. measuring cup as a mold. Drizzle condensed milk over rice and mangoes, and top with coconut chips.