Mango Sticky Rice with Salted Coconut Cream & Toasted Sesame

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The Thai classic done properly at home: glutinous rice soaked overnight and steamed in a cloth until glossy and chewy, folded with warm sweet coconut milk so every grain drinks it up, then piled beside fan-sliced ripe mango. A loose, salty coconut cream spooned over the top is what makes the whole plate taste like a dessert rather than a bowl of sweet rice — the fruit stays the star, cool and perfumed against the warm rice.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Thai glutinous rice (sweet rice / sticky rice)
• water, for soaking and steaming

• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar, chopped (or light brown sugar)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 pandan leaf, knotted (optional, fresh or frozen)

• 3/4 cup full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon rice flour or cornstarch

• 2 large very ripe mangoes, ideally Ataulfo/honey or Nam Dok Mai
• 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon split yellow mung beans, optional
• 1 pinch flaky salt
• lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

1. Rinse the glutinous rice in a bowl under cool water, swishing and pouring off the cloudy water 3 or 4 times until it runs nearly clear. Cover with 2 inches of cool water and soak at least 6 hours, ideally overnight, at room temperature. Do not skip or shorten this — unsoaked sticky rice steams up chalky in the center.
2. Drain the rice in a fine-mesh sieve for 5 minutes. Line a steamer basket with a double layer of damp cheesecloth (or a clean thin kitchen towel) and spread the rice in an even 1-inch layer, leaving a 1-inch border. Fold the cloth loosely over the top.
3. Bring 2 inches of water to a hard boil in the pot beneath, set the basket in place, cover, and steam over medium-high heat for 18 to 22 minutes, flipping the whole rice cake over with the cloth halfway through. It is done when the grains are translucent, glossy and chewy-tender with no opaque white core. Taste a few grains to be sure.
4. While the rice steams, make the sweet coconut soak: combine 1 cup coconut milk, granulated sugar, palm sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pandan knot in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stirring, just until the sugars dissolve and the surface steams, about 3 minutes — do not boil. Remove from heat and discard the pandan.
5. Tip the hot rice into a wide bowl and pour over about three-quarters of the warm coconut mixture. Fold gently with a silicone spatula 8 to 10 times, then cover tightly with a plate or wrap and let stand 25 to 30 minutes. The rice will absorb the liquid and turn shiny and cohesive; fold in more of the reserved coconut mixture if it looks dry.
6. Make the salted topping: whisk 3/4 cup coconut milk with 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the rice flour in a clean small saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes, until it just barely thickens to the consistency of heavy cream. Do not let it boil hard or it will split. Cool to warm or room temperature.
7. Toast the sesame seeds and mung beans (if using) in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking often, for 3 to 4 minutes until the sesame is golden and smells nutty. Tip onto a plate immediately to stop the cooking.
8. Stand each mango upright and slice down either side of the flat pit. Score the flesh inside the skin into 1/4-inch slices and scoop them free with a large spoon, or peel first and cut thin lengthwise slices. Fan the slices out; keep them cool but not ice-cold, which mutes their perfume.
9. Scoop a rounded mound of warm sticky rice onto each plate — pack it lightly into a small cup or ramekin and invert if you want a clean dome. Fan the mango alongside so the fruit takes up at least half the plate.
10. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of the salted coconut cream over the rice and let it pool onto the mango. Scatter with toasted sesame and mung beans, add a tiny pinch of flaky salt over the fruit, and serve with a lime wedge. Eat within the hour, while the rice is still warm and the mango still cool.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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