This is probably one of my favourite desserts. It takes me back to eating Mango Sticky Rice by the road side in Bangkok in Thailand and sharing it with my sister who loves this too. It’s a delicious blend of glutinous rice cooked in some coconut milk along with some fresh sweet ripe mangoes. It’s actually really simple to make at home!
RECIPE VARIATION: UBE VERSION OF THIS THAI DESSERT
This Thai dessert is very similar to a lot of Filipino glutinous-rice based desserts so I wanted to add some ube to create a fusion of both Filipino and Thai flavours.
The version in the photo below uses ube or purple yam spread. I grew up eating ube flavoured treats and desserts--from ube spread or balata to ube ice cream. Ube is heavily ingrained in Filipino cuisine and culture and well known for its distinct flavour and colour. I can't quite describe the flavour of ube and you'll really just need to try it for yourself.
Fresh ube can be quite hard to come by depending on where you live so having ube powder and extracts can come in really handy.
This version is like a fusion of both Filipino and Thai cuisine. Glutinous rice-based offerings such as 'kakanin' are very popular in Filipino cuisine, which is why Thailand's famous mango with sticky rice is very suited to the Filipino palate.
You can of course make a traditional Thai Mango Sticky Rice or make one with an ube sticky rice for a little twist and that beautiful pop of colour.
HOW TO MAKE THAI MANGO STICKY RICE
WHAT CAN I USE INSTEAD OF STICKY RICE?
Sticky or glutinous rice is a lot starchier than regular rice so I'm afraid there's no subsitute for it that will yield that same texture as the traditionally made mango sticky rice dessert. I recommend to check in your local Asian grocery or even online for sticky or glutinous rice that you can use for this recipe and others. It also helps to store some in your pantry for future use!
PREPARING AND SOAKING THE STICKY RICE
Wash the rice 3-4 times to remove the starch or until the water is almost clear. Leave to soak overnight for at least 8-24 hours. Afterwards, drain the water from the rice.
STEAMING THE RICE
Place the rice on a bamboo basket or any steamed lined with parchment paper. Steam for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is cooked and still chewy.
COOKING THE STICKY RICE
In a large pan, heat the coconut milk over medium high heat. Add in the sugar and salt. Leave the coconut milk to simmer over medium high heat until in boils.
Once it boils, lower heat to medium and continue stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add in the steamed rice and cooked down the rich until it has absorbed the coconut milk and has thickened, around 4 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
OPTIONAL: ADD UBE JAM TO MAKE UBE STICKY RICE!
What's ube? Ube is purple yam in Filipino. It has a distinct flavour and a very rich purple colour. Ube is used in a lot of Filipino desserts such as in Ube ice cream, ube jam/halaya, kakanin (sticky rice-based desserts).
I added some homemade ube spread or jam. You can find my homemade recipe here.
COCONUT SAUCE
In the same pan over medium high heat, add the coconut milk and sugar. Stir in the same direction and cook over medium heat until it boils. Once it boils, lower the heat to medium. Dilute the cornstarch with the water. While stirring the coconut milk, pour in the cornstarch mixture. Turn off heat and keep stirring until it thickens. Transfer to a sauce pourer or small container until ready to use.
ASSEMBLING YOUR MANGO STICKY RICE
1. Peel the mangoes and slice, creating 4 mango halves (or ‘cheeks’ as I’d like to call them). Then slice each cheek into 1⁄4 -inch thick strips.
2. Portion the rice and mangoes into 4, then top with toasted sesame seeds. Finish off by drizzling on some of the coconut sauce. These are best enjoyed when freshly made!
The Ube Version
CAN I STORE LEFTOVER MANGO STICKY RICE?
Yes you can! Thought I highly recommend to consume with within the day, since it's best enjoyed fresh, you can still store leftovers to enjoy in the coming days.
STORAGE TIPS AND REHEATING MANGO STICKY RICE
Storage tip: You can refrigerate these overnight if you have leftovers, though they should be consumed within a day or 2 days at most because coconut cream can easily go bad.
Reheating: When you refrigerate the rice, it will harden. If you want to enjoy them like they were when freshly made, transfer the rice on a microwave safe container then sprinkle some water on the rice. Cover it and microwave for 30–45 seconds while it cooks in its steam.
Enjoy it with some of that coconut sauce. Find the full recipe for this below!
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DESSERTS
THAI & VIETNAMESE RECIPES
Thai Mango Sticky Rice
Ingredients
Coconut Rice
- 1 cup dry glutinous rice , soaked overnight
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 3-4 tbsp granulated sugar , see notes
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Ube (Optional, see notes)
- 3-4 tbsp ube halaya or ube spread, see homemade recipe here, (see notes)
- 2-3 drops ube extract , optional (see notes)
Coconut Sauce
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
- 2-3 tbsp granulated sugar , adjust to desired sweetness
Corn Starch Slurry
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 2 tsp room temperature water
Mangoes
- 2 large ripe mangoes
- Toasted coconut for topping (optional)
Instructions
- You can watch the recipe video below.
Coconut Rice
- Wash the rice 3-4 times to remove the starch or until the water is almost clear. Leave to soak overnight for at least 8-24 hours.
- Afterwards, drain the water from the rice. Place the rice on a bamboo steamer lined with parchment paper.
- Steam for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is cooked, slightly translucent, and still very chewy.Note: If you only soaked your rice for a few hours, you will need to steam the rice much longer to cook the rice.
- In a large pan, heat the coconut milk over medium high heat. Add in the sugar and salt. Leave the coconut milk to simmer over medium high heat until in boils. Once it boils, lower heat to medium and continue stirring until the sugar has dissolved.Mix in the ube spread and extract (if using) and mix well with the coconut milk. Some chunks of ube are totally fine if these don’t completely dissolve.
- Add in the steamed rice and cook down the rice until it has absorbed the coconut milk and has thickened, around 4 minutes.Turn off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
Coconut Sauce
- In the same pan over medium high heat, add the coconut milk and sugar. Stir in the same direction and cook over medium heat until it boils. Once it boils, lower the heat to medium. Dilute the cornstarch with the water. While stirring the coconut milk, pour in the cornstarch mixture. Turn off heat and keep stirring until it thickens. Transfer to a sauce pourer or small container until ready to use.
Assembling them
- Peel the mangoes and slice, creating 4 mango halves (or ‘cheeks’ as I’d like to call them). Then slice each cheek into 1⁄4 -inch thick strips.
- Portion the rice and mangoes into 4, then top with toasted sesame seeds. Finish off by drizzling on some of the coconut sauce. These are best enjoyed when freshly made!
Storage tips
- You can refrigerate these overnight if you have leftovers, though they should be consumed within a day or 2 days at most because coconut cream can easily go bad.
Reheating
- When you refrigerate the rice it will harden. If you want to enjoy them like they were when freshly made, transfer the rice on a microwave safe container then sprinkle some water on the rice. Cover it and microwave for 30–45 seconds while it cooks in its steam.
WATCH Video
Notes
Coconut Milk
- I used one 400-ml can of coconut milk for both the rice and the sauce :)
Ube Extract
- The ube extract here adds a layer of ube flavour. I used clear ube extract from the brand Ferna.
- If you're not using extract and would want more ube flavouring, feel free to add more ube halaya or spread!
- It's also totally fine not to add any ube spread/extract and just have the classic mango sticky rice.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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Mine came out perfectly! I soaked my rice for 3 hrs and steamed in cheesecloth with metal steamer basket for 25 min since I didn’t have a basket steamer. Once I added the coconut milk to the rice with a few minutes of watching it closing it thickened up beautifully. This was as good as my favorite Thai restaurant! Thanks so much for the recipe. 🙂
Yay so happy it turned out great!! Thanks as well Jennifer! ❤️
Absolutely love the recipe! I was craving this dish after coming back from a trip to the Philippines and it turned out great ? thank you very much for sharing.
Thank you Annie! Gotta love mango sticky rice! ?
hi, can i cook the sticky rice using rice cooker?
Hi Anne! I don’t recommend that since the rice will come out very mushy. Best is really to steam the rice 🙂
This recipe was pretty easy to make than expected! I really love how thorough and specific the instructions and ingredients were, that was really helpful. I’m really glad there was a video of making the sticky rice as well, I watched it as I made my sticky rice as well as coming back and reading the instructions on here at the same time which was really really helpful!!! It did take a bit longer than expected, but it still turned out really great and yummy!! I’m so happy that it came out great in the end, and I can’t wait to make it next time!!!❤️ can’t wait to try the UBE version!! 🙂
Hey Hannie! Happy the video and steps helped. Thanks for giving this a try! 🙂
Great recipe and instructions. It came out exactly like the one I had at the restaurant!
Hey Letizia! Hope you enjoyed it 🙂 thanks for giving it a try!! Gotta love mango sticky rice!