I know this is totally not a Memorial Day recipe in any way. But, I’ve been seeing that mangos are starting to appear at some of the grocery stores, and a weekend or so ago, my friends and I decided to have an Asian themed potluck for our Game of Thrones night. The mains included Do It Yourself Vietnamese rolls (very easy- just prep the filling options and everyone else just will select, wrap, and eat, and it’s even pretty healthy!), and there was also an Asian Salad with optional steak. Now that the weather is heating up, this is a great idea for a potluck theme. The two wraps below use the rice paper, but you can also use lettuce wraps as well. It is easy to accommodate for vegetarians since it’s up to everyone whether to add the bbq pork (and alternately you can offer fresh tofu as an option).

I contributed a dessert of sticky rice with mango, known in Thai as ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง.

The key to making sweet sticky rice is to make sure you use the right rice- specifically, glutinous rice. You can find these at an Asian grocery store. This is the same sticky rice that you often see served with satay/meat skewers – but in that preparation you don’t use coconut milk.

Speaking of, while you are there at the Asian grocery store, pick up a can of coconut milk too.

When you buy your mangos, make sure they are slightly softer to the touch- similar to when you check avocados. If not, when you peel/cut the mango it will still be a little green and sour, which is fine for some other Thai dishes I know but not for a dessert dish like this.

In order to help ripen your mango, you can try a few tricks such as putting it in a paper bag and leaving it on the counter at room temperature. I hear that putting an apple or banana might also help with the ripening process. If you want to slow the ripening because it is already ready but you’re making it fresh the next day, put it in the refrigerator. A ripe mango put in the fridge might last a handful of days, so don’t wait long.

Sweet Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango Recipe

Yields enough for 2, with usually each person getting 1/2 a mango.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of glutinous rice
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 3 tbsp of sugar (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 sweet, ripe mango (preferably Thai honey mango)
• 2 tsp of sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Take 1/2 cup of the coconut milk and add it to 1/2 cup of water. Now add the 1/2 cup of glutinous rice and let the rice soak for about 30 minutes. The rice should get fatter as it absorbs the coconut water.
   
2. After the soaking, do not drain the water. Pour the rice into a pot and simmer on low heat on the stovetop until the rice is cooked and soft. You may need to add a cup or so of water if the rice gets too dry.
3. In another pot, mix the 1/2 cup of coconut milk with the sugar and salt on simmer until it begins to bubble/is on the verge of boiling. At this point, add it to your cooked glutinous rice and stir to mix. Cover, and let sit on the simmering heat until the rice has absorbed all the coconut milk mixture, about 30 minutes. Taste and see if you’d like to add more sugar for sweetness, or a pinch of salt to balance the sweet.
   
4. Remove from heat and let the rice cool so it is still warm but no longer hot. This is usually the time I cut the mango to place on top, and garnish with sesame seeds.
   

Sooo….

It turns out despite what I wrote before about making sure your mango is ripe, with everything that was going on that weekend I spaced on putting it in the paper bag when I got home, and I didn’t know F put it in the refrigerator. So when the cutting happened, the mango was still a little green. What to do?

I tried to recover my dessert by turning to the fact that green mangoes are often used in Thai cooking and in those cases, there is a spicier take on it. Particularly, Mango Salads are pretty popular. So I decided to make slightly spicy diced mango- I tried to dial back the spice as I knew I had guests who are not lovers of the spicy heat like F and I are.

Spicy Diced Mango

Ingredients:

• 3 firm mangos, diced
• 3 small chilies, minced. If you want to dial back the heat, deseed it. Alternately, as I did, since I didn’t have any chilies I used 3 teaspoons of chili powder, or to your taste.
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil
• 3 teaspoons honey
• 3 teaspoons of soy sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Toss together all the ingredients. Adjust seasonings to taste.
2. Let the flavors marinate/mingle for about 30 minutes before serving – if you’d like, chill it in the refrigerator