Thai Mango Sticky Rice

Rinse the Glutinous rice in cold water three or four times, until the water runs almost clear — rub the grains between your palms, that cloudiness is loose starch. Cover with plenty of cold water and leave it to soak for at least 3 h, or overnight. The grains should snap between your teeth, not shatter: soaked through, still chalky-white in the middle.

⚠ Tip: Do not skip this. Under-soaked rice steams up hard and dry in the centre and no amount of coconut cream fixes it.

Drain the rice well in a colander and leave it dripping for a few minutes. If you are using Pandan leaves, knot it so it fits in the steamer.

While the rice steams, warm 400 ml Coconut milk in a small pan with 100 g Sugar and 1 tsp Salt over the lowest heat, stirring just until the sugar and salt dissolve. Keep it under a simmer, around 60 °C: if it bubbles hard the coconut milk splits into oil and grainy solids and you will be pouring grease over the rice. Taste it — it should be sweet first, then a clear salty edge behind.

⚠ Tip: Full-fat coconut milk only, and no boiling. If it does split, take it off the heat and whisk in a spoonful of cold coconut milk.

Line a steamer basket with muslin or a clean thin cloth and spread the drained rice in it loosely, no more than a couple of fingers deep so the steam gets through. Steam over rapidly boiling water, lid on, for 25 min. Halfway through, lift the lid and turn the rice with a spoon, sprinkling a little hot water over any dry patches. It is done when the grains are translucent all the way through, tender but still separate and springy — pinch one, it should squash without going to paste.

⚠ Tip: Steam, never boil. Boiling glutinous rice turns the outside to glue while the centre stays raw; the steamer is what keeps the grains whole.

Tip the hot steamed rice straight into a wide bowl and pour over about two-thirds of the sweet coconut cream — the rest is for the table. Fold it through gently with a spoon, not a whisk, until every grain is coated. Cover and leave it to drink for 20 min: the rice should absorb the liquid and turn glossy and slightly sticky, with no pool left in the bowl.

⚠ Tip: Hot rice, warm coconut cream — cold liquid on hot rice makes it seize.

Peel the chilled Mangoes and slice the cheeks off the stone into long, thick slabs. Ripe mango should smell sweet at the stem and give under your thumb; if it is firm it will taste of nothing but fibre.

Toast the Toasted sesame seeds and the Moong dal in a dry pan over medium heat for a minute or two, until the seeds smell nutty and the split peas turn pale gold — they are the traditional crunch scattered over the top. Tip them onto a plate to stop the cooking.

⚠ Tip: Yellow split mung beans, not green ones, and not the moong dal that has been boiled — they need to stay hard and crisp.

Spoon the coconut sticky rice onto plates, lay the mango beside it and pour over the rest of sweet coconut cream. Scatter the toasted seeds over and eat straight away, while the rice is still warm and the mango cold.

⚠ Tip: The contrast is the dish — warm, salty-sweet rice against cold, fragrant mango. Assemble at the table, never ahead.