In the South Arm Community, Minoo decided to do four old recipes which are simple and well received. After more than 5 years of blogging the recipes from the Richmond Community Kitchen, there are at least 600 recipes in my collection. It’s not easy to come out with new recipes which are economical, simple and healthy. From time to time, Minoo will go back to her recipe repertoire to re-do some well received recipes. It does not matter much because not many of the members of the community kitchens stay for a long time except for a few loyal members. People come and go.

So, for this session at the South Arm Community Kitchen, Minoo re-do three recipes. They are Chicken Corn Chili, South Western Slaw and Roasted Sweet Potatoes. Minoo actually planned to make an Easy Lemon Cheesecake for dessert which is also a recipe that we had done before. Since it’s mango season, I volunteer to demonstrate a popular Thai dessert called Mango with Sticky Rice (Khao Niao Mamuang).

Mango with Sticky Rice is a popular street food in Thailand. It’s important to get sweet ripe mango for this dessert. This dessert can also made with ripe  peaches, papayas and durian.

Mango is a fleshy stone fruit which is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. Mango is rich in a variety of phytochemicals and nutrients such as potassium, copper and 17 amino acids. The fruit pulp is high in prebiotic dietary fiber, vitamin A, C, E, B6 and K.

Ripe mango is sweet and usually eaten raw. Unripe mango is sour and often eaten as a salad with fish sauce or salt such as bagoong in Phillipines. Mango is dried and eaten as a snack. Mangoes can be used to make juice, ice-cream, sorbetes or smoothies. There are so many ways to enjoy mango.

Ingredients

• 3 cups sticky rice
• 1 can (400ml) coconut milk
• 3/4 cups granulated sugar (can substitute with palm sugar or brown sugar)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 to 4 ripe mangoes
• toasted sesame seeds or mint or Asian basil sprigs for garnishing (optional)

Source: this recipe is adapted from Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Serves: 8 to 10

Sticky rice is also known as glutinous rice or sweet rice. Sticky rice does not contain dietary gluten. Therefore it’s safe for gluten-free diets.

Instructions

Soak the sticky rice overnight in water or thin coconut milk and drain.

Steam the sticky rice for 25 minutes or until tender. The rice will be al-dante and has a bite to it.If you want a quick fix for this dessert, you can try the microwave method below: Soak the sticky rice for at least 10 minutes. Use 1.1 to 1 ratio of water to rice. Microwave the sticky rice in a microwave safe bowl for 3 minutes. Stir and microwave for 3 minutes again. Repeat until the rice is translucent and cooked. The microwave method will result a more softer rice.

Peel the mango. Angela showed us an interesting way without peeling the mango. She cut the mango by running the knife along the flat side of the pit/stone on both sides of the pit. Then, she uses a spoon to remove the flesh from the peel. Thinly slice the mango crosswise. Chill the mango in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce by combining the coconut milk, sugar and salt in a heavy pot. Heat the coconut milk mixture over medium heat until hot and the sugar and salt dissolve completely. Do not boil.

When the sticky rice is tender, transfer to a bowl. Pour 1 cup of the coconut milk mixture over the sticky rice; reserve the rest. Stir to mix the liquid into the rice, then let stand for 20 minutes to an hour to allow the flavours to blend.

To serve individually, place an oval mound of sticky rice on each dessert plate. You may drizzle the rice with some of the remaining coconut milk mixture as the rice might looked dried out a bit after sitting for the flavour to blend. Place some sliced mango on the side. Top with a sprig of mint or basil or sprinkle the sticky rice with some toasted sesame seeds.