A Tropical Dessert For Mango Lovers!

Coconut Sweet Rice with Hawaiian Mango
This simple Thai dessert is made with short grain sticky rice, seasoned with sweet coconut milk and served with juicy chunks of Hawaiian mango... this will make a mango lover out of you.

Ingredients:

Sweet Hawaiian Mango.
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1 cup short grain white rice
1 (14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk, blended well to incorporate fat, divided
1/2 cup white sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
a pinch of cinnamon
2 perfectly ripe Hawaiian mangoes (about 6 ounces), peeled, pitted, and sliced into chunks
Toasted coconut for garnish

Procedure for cooking the sticky rice:
In a large bowl, cover rice with water by several inches and let stand at room temperature for 5 hours or as much as overnight.

Drain rice and put it in a heavy saucepan and 1 3/4 cups of water. Bring water to a boil. Cover pot with a tight-fitting lid and reduce heat to low, and simmer, without uncover-ing the pot. Cook until rice is tender, about 18 minutes (taste it to be sure). At this point, remove pan from heat. Uncover, place a kitchen towel over pan to keep moisture from dripping onto rice. Cover tightly with lid. Let rice stand, covered, for 10-15 minutes to firm up.

Procedure for cooking the coconut cream:
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring half the coconut milk to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Whisk in 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, and a pinch of salt until dissolved.

Transfer cooked rice to a large heatproof bowl and pour coconut milk mixture on top (it will look like too much liquid). Stir well to combine, cover with plastic, and let stand until liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, clean saucepan and add remaining coconut milk to it. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with a couple of teaspoons of the hot coconut milk and stir to form a slurry. Whisk cornstarch slurry into the remaining coconut milk, then simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of cinnamon, until dissolved. Keep coconut milk warm.

When ready to serve, mound coconut rice onto plates and arrange chunks of sweet Hawaiian mango alongside. Drizzle thickened coconut milk over rice, garnished with toasted coconut. Serve at room temperature as soon as possible.

Makes 4 servings.

Note: The coconut sticky rice is made to complement the mango, not the other way around. The Hawaiian mango must be at its peak of ripeness. If the mango is tart, unripe, fibrous, or tasteless, don't bother to make this dessert.