Cheater Thai Sticky Rice

Every time I go to a Thai restaurant, I've always been tempted to try their sticky rice dessert with mangoes on the side, but never really ordered it.  And the reason is, I cannot accommodate another rice dish into my stomach after just feasting on rice requiring Thai dishes.  So I justify my avoidance by saying it just tastes like our very own "suman" in the Philippines.  Wrong!

In the Philippines, we have this sticky rice snack we call "suman," made of sticky rice cooked in coconut milk.  And just like the Thais we also eat it with mangoes on the side.  The only difference is we don't put coconut milk sauce over it.  Instead we just dip the suman in plain white sugar.  So I decided to make it for my lunch dessert today, afterall, I only had kale salad (I will post the recipe soon) for lunch.  I figured, I have room for dessert.  Because I've never tasted this before, I quickly IM'd Veggie Girl to get ideas on how to make the coconut milk sauce.  Believe me, as soon as I had my first bite of the "suman" with coconut milk,  my eyes rolled up because it was so good, it's delicious.


Please remember, I call my recipe "Cheater" because I used store bought Philippine "suman."  And instead of mangoes, I used canned peaches.  The peaches don't go as well with the sticky rice as mangoes would, but it's a good enough substitute.  I would also recommend that you use only Asian mangoes, or of course, Philippine mangoes.  Asian mangoes have a very yellow skin and they are slightly long than they are fat.  How to tell if a mango is sweet?  Smell them.  If it smells sweet, it tastes sweet.  If you can't smell anything, pick another one. 


"Suman" is readily available in the freezer section of most Filipino stores.  Some Chinese markets carry them too.  Coconut milk is also available in Asian stores and the Asian food aisle of most American groceries.


I hope you enjoy my take on it, and by the way, this is good with tea. -GG-


Ingredients:


2 pieces of "suman sa ibos"
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
A few slices of peaches or fresh mangoes


Procedure:


1. While still wrapped in leaves, place the suman (sticky rice) in a steamer and steam for about 10 to 15 minutes.  Let it cool to the touch.  Remove the suman from its wrapper and set it on a salad plate.


2.  In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk and sugar to a low boil until it thickens a bit.  Pour over the sticky rice.  Garnish with peaches on the side.

There are different kinds of suman.  This is "suman sa ibos" still wrapped in leaves.  Do not remove from the leaf wrapper when you steam it.

Here are the two common brands of coconut milk you can find in the store.  Chaokoh comes in a can, while Kara comes in a carton.