Sticky Rice with Mango and Coconut Praline

It’s cool, light and refreshing. This dish is best enjoyed while watching the sun set after a long hot day of touring the temples at Angkor. The next best thing to do would be to make it for Cambodia’s Independence Day (9 November).

I have to admit that I didn’t have the opportunity to taste any desserts while I was in Cambodia. It was such a short trip and getting a simple meal took long enough. I visited in 2000 when Cambodia was just starting to encourage tourists and the industry was only developing. It’s very different now. I understand there is now a Sheraton and Best Western in Siem Riep!

Fortunately for me there are great online resources, such as Recipes of Asia, where this recipe originates from, to help me fill in some culinary gaps. I only changed the original Cambodian sticky rice recipe slightly; by reducing the salt and serving it with coconut milk instead of the cream to make it lighter. The toasted coconut praline is my own personal touch. It adds flavour of course but also a lovely textural dimension. I think the dish would really be lacking without it. Next time I make it I will use jasmine rice; that would make it even better.

What is your favourite rice dessert?

Serves 4-6

1 cup raw sticky rice
3/4 cup coconut cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup coconut milk
shredded coconut
sugar
mango (1/2 per person), sliced

Steam the rice until tender (about 20 minutes or so).
Place the coconut cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan on a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Stir through the cooked rice. Remove from the heat and chill.

To make the coconut praline, place enough shredded coconut to cover the base of a non-stick frypan. Gently stir over a medium-low heat until the coconut is toasted. Spread about two thirds of the coconut on a piece of baking paper (the remainder can be set aside in a bowl to be used as garnish).
Return the saucepan to the stove, increase the heat, add enough sugar to cover the base to a depth of about 3mm. Do not stir, but gently swirl the pan if there is a stubborn area of sugar that is refusing to melt. When the sugar is liquid and dark caramel in colour remove the frypan from the stove and pour the caramel over the coconut. When cool, the coconut praline can either be broken into shards or ground in a food processor. The shards are great for presentation but the ground praline is better for eating. If you have time make extra and serve it both ways. Don’t worry about leftovers. As with any praline, it goes exceptionally well with vanilla ice-cream.

To serve, place rice in a bowl and pour over 2-3 tablespoons of coconut milk. Garnish with sliced mango, coconut praline and toasted coconut.

If you’re interested in food photography then check out the November photography and styling challenge at Junglefrog Cooking. The challenge this month is to create an image featuring food or drink in a glass. Simone, who is a professional photographer, gives some practical tips on how to photograph glass. As luck would have it I received this post the night before I was going to photograph this dessert. I had already decided to use a glass for my dessert but I was a little apprehensive since I hadn’t been very successful in photographing glass previously. I am very grateful that other bloggers, such as Simone, are willing to share their knowledge.