Sweet Rice with Mango, Chia and Black Sesame

By gingerroot • March 22, 2011 • 8 Comments

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Sweet Rice with Mango, Chia and Black Sesame — 1 of 2 Photo by Sarah Shatz

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Author Notes: Although I have enjoyed it countless times as mochi, I have never cooked sweet rice before and this challenge inspired me to try. I was also curious to see what would happen if I used coconut water instead of milk. I made a Thai Basil, Coconut and Lime sorbet last summer using coconut water, and was happily surprised with the results. Here, the resulting dessert is a lighter alternative to a coconut milk pudding, and one that will get sweeter as heady mango season approaches. Toasted chia and black sesame add a lovely nutty contrast. - gingerroot - gingerroot

Food52 Review: If dessert (or even afternoon snack time!) rolls around and you're craving something light, tropical and just barely sweet then this sticky rice should hit the spot. The rice cooks up to have that familiar sticky texture but has only the faintest hint of coconut and sweetness. This really lets the mango pieces shine through as the focus of the dish. The chia seeds add a nice little extra bit of crunch on top of the more traditional black sesame without being obtrusive. - fiveandspice - fiveandspice

Serves 4-5

1 cup sweet (glutinous) rice
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups coconut water
1 cup diced mango
Toasted chia seeds, for sprinkling
Black sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Combine rice and scraped seeds from half a vanilla bean in a quart sized Pyrex measure (or large bowl). Add 3 cups of water and soak overnight.
In the morning, drain water (discard soaked vanilla bean solid), cover container with plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.
Combine rice and coconut water in a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil, cover and lower heat to simmer. Cook until rice is tender, 45-50 minutes.
Stir in diced mango. Serve rice in bowls, topped with toasted chia seeds and black sesame. Enjoy.