Sweet Sticky Rice With Mango

This is the dish I miss most from Thailand, two years later I can say I have officially nailed it!

Why did it take me so long to nail it? Well there are a couple of reasons, the biggest hurdle….the mangoes. Before we traveled to Thailand, I had tried mangoes a few times and didn’t like them. The texture and taste just didn’t do it for me. Where I am from the grocery store mainly carries the red/green mangoes and they are not sweet or juicy. So when we went to Thailand my guy insisted the mangoes would be different, boy was he right!! Mind blown, the Thai mangoes are so juicy and sweet!!

I ate many dishes of sweet sticky rice with mango and drank more mango smoothies than I can count. Once we returned form our trip, we were on a mission to get those mangoes….easier said than done. You can’t get mangoes from Thailand, if you live in the US. Believe me we tried and were willing to pay a ridiculous amount for them. We did some research and found Alphonso and Ataulfo mangoes would be the closest we could get. For months I would check to see if our grocery store had them….no luck until spring hit and then not only did they have them, they were super cheap. I don’t think they know the sweet and juicy yellow mangoes are far superior than the red/green ones. These little gems are almost exactly like the ones in Thailand, both in taste and texture!! Winning!!!

Now that I could procure the mangoes the other hurdle, coconut milk….which I am realizing I didn’t research enough and now I feel silly. The coconut milk I sometimes use for my coffee is not the same as the coconut milk in a can! I never even looked for coconut milk in a can…again, silly. The coconut milk in a can is more like a coconut cream which is what the recipe calls for and what I had been missing.

While we were in Chiang Mai we took a cooking class from Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School, it was a great experience and I highly recommend taking the time to take one! Maybe I will blog about that sometime. We each received a cookbook with recipes of what we cooked during our class along with some traditional Thai dishes. Luckily the recipe for sweet sticky rice with mangoes was in it. There are many different recipes online but I knew the recipe from the cookbook was what I wanted to use and I was not disappointed!

The recipe calls for sweet sticky rice, I use jasmine rice straight from Thailand, we actually bought a 25 pound bag from our local natural living center. Yes, we love the rice that much and use it for many different dishes.

I followed the recipe exactly as it is written, the only thing added to it is the coconut flakes on top. I had it with and without in Thailand, I just think it adds a little more coconut flavor and texture.

There was some dancing in my kitchen after the first bite and I may have eaten 3 bowls of this deliciousness!

After writing this blog, I am thinking a few more blogs might be in order of our trip to Thailand. It is truly a wonderful place to visit and we had many adventures during our 3 week stay!

There is a reason why this dish is so popular in Thailand, it is so easy to make and delicious. Be on the lookout for Alphonso or Ataulfo mangoes at your local grocery store and give it a try!!!