Saturday, January 28, 2012

Sweet Mango Sticky Rice



The return to work has happened and the new year's for healthy work snacks has also taken place.  And my brother recently bragged to me about having made what sounds like a pretty amazingly delicious savoury sticky rice, which got me thinking.


And THEN I discovered the local Asian grocers has a steady stock of frozen banana leaves.  This sealed the deal.  Although I was not interested in savoury sticky rice as a work snack.  I was interested in sweet and fruity sticky rice for the 4pm slump.  And since it's Summer here in Melbourne and mangoes are in season, there was really no need to consider any other fruits, what with mangoes being king of the fruits.

So this sticky rice is remarkably easy.  You need to start it a day in advance, but apart from that it's a breeze.  I now have a stash of single serve parcels in my freezer that I'm chomping through at my leisure.  And because it's sticky rice, you can microwave it to defrost and warm, and it only gets stickier and more delicious.

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups medium grain rice
  • 2 cups coconut milk
  • 2/3 cup palm sugar
  • 1 mango
  • chia seeds
  • banana leaves

 One day ahead of time, soak the rice in cold water and leave overnight.


The following day, drain the water off the rice and place in a large pot.  Add the coconut milk and sugar and bring to a medium heat.  Stir the rice over the heat so it doesn't stick and burn, while it absorbs the coconut milk, as though you are making a sweet, sticky risotto.  Once it is thick and very risotto like, turn off the heat and leave to cool.




At this point the rice won't be cooked through yet, but that's ok.  We're not done yet!

While the rice cools, slice the mango into long thin strips.



Prepare your banana leaves (which are enormous) by cutting them into roughly A4 sized pieces, trimming any manky edges and washing them.



Then prepare you sticky rice parcels.

First lay your banana leaf down.  Then place a sprinkling of chia seeds in a 5cm line down the centre.


Place a spoon of the rice over the chia seeds, followed by a sliver of mango, then another spoon of rice.




Then fold the banana leaf over the rice, pressing it together firmly, fold the sides in and roll over until sealed.





Repeat this for all your parcels, then place them in steaming baskets and steam over water for 40 minutes.



Yum yum yum yum yum.

1 comment:

lexi said...

Ace idea! And with chia, for extra fillingupness.