Plantain Mango Sticky Rice

Sticky rice with mango is an essential Thai treat. Like rice pudding, it is flavored with coconut, a Thai staple, but it is often served in a ball or solid form rather than a pudding, and it is dressed with a gooey, sweet coconut sauce. I use coconut sugar in this recipe, but it does darken the color of both the plantains and the coconut sauce. If you prefer to keep your rice light and your sauce white, as it traditionally looks, you can use regular white sugar instead.

Serves 4

2 large plantains

1⁄2 tablespoon coconut oil

11⁄2 cups coconut milk

2 tablespoons coconut sugar

1 medium mango

Ingredients for Coconut Sauce

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

2 tablespoons coconut sugar

  1. Peel plantains, cut in half crosswise, and slice off both ends of the plantains. Spiralize using a small-noodle blade.
  2. Heat coconut oil in a medium pan on medium heat. Add plantains and stir around in coconut oil, cooking for about 1 minute. As plantains cook, break them into rice-sized pieces with a spatula. This should naturally happen as the plantain softens. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently so bottoms of plantains don’t burn.
  3. While plantains are cooking, bring 1 cup coconut milk to a boil. Return to medium heat and add coconut sugar and plantain rice. Cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring frequently until coconut milk is absorbed. Add remaining 1⁄2 cup coconut milk and stir for 1–2 minutes until the coconut milk is almost fully absorbed but the rice is still moist and sticky.
  4. Prepare mango by peeling from top to bottom. Stand the mango up and look where the mango is the widest (known as the cheeks of the mango). Slice both cheeks off the mango, then cut into 1" wedges. Slice the remaining fruit off of the pit, then slice into smaller, 1" wedges.
  5. To make coconut sauce, bring 1 cup coconut milk to almost a boil, then lower to medium-low heat. Add coconut sugar and stir in, mixing evenly.
  6. Serve sticky rice with mango on the side and drizzle coconut sauce over rice. Serve warm.

Not Mango Season?

If mango is not in season, you can also make this dessert with coconut or banana, other Thai dessert staples. Or, experiment with other fruits you love.