Mango Sticky Rice

Mango sticky rice is steamed glutinous rice soaked in sweetened coconut milk, served beside ripe mango. It is Thailand's simplest dessert and one of its best-known abroad, needing nothing more than three ingredients handled well.

What it really is

Glutinous rice, a genuinely different grain from ordinary long-grain rice, steams until each grain turns soft and sticky enough to clump together rather than separate. While still warm, it soaks in coconut milk sweetened with sugar and a little salt, absorbing the liquid until every grain carries the coconut's richness all the way through, not just on the surface. Sliced ripe mango sits alongside, its bright sweetness a direct contrast to the rice's richer, more mellow flavour.

The rice soaks in coconut milk while still warm, not after it cools. Warm rice absorbs the liquid fully and evenly; rice left to cool first only takes the coconut milk on its surface, missing the point of a dessert built entirely on that soaking.

How it is served

• Warm or at room temperature, rarely chilled.
• With sliced ripe mango fanned alongside the rice.
• Sometimes with a drizzle of thicker, less-sweetened coconut cream over the top.

How to write it on the menu

• It is naturally vegan and vegetarian as standard.
• Say that the rice is glutinous, a different grain from regular rice, since some guests expect a lighter texture.
• Note the season, since mango quality and sweetness vary noticeably and the dish depends on it being genuinely ripe.