She: Asian Market

Last week Mark and I went to the Wing Wa asian market down Stockton. I love going there--it reminds me of living in Bangkok. We bought some candy that I used to get "Super Candy." Its reeeaaally sour--they have super lemon, apple, strawberry and some other flavors I can't remember, but it is coated in salt and makes your mouth pucker, but in a good way. Its not the biggest of the asian markets in town; we still have a few to try, but I love their selection of rice noodles. They have a whole frickin aisle for it. They've also got a great selection of uber-cheap seafood as well.

I went there to hunt for sticky rice, though, so I could make my favorite summer dish: sticky rice with mangos. I luuuuuv this dish. We used to buy it from the vendors by the pound. After the first round, where it was still nice and warm, we'd put it in the fridge and slice it like butter and chomp on it for breakfast. I tried to make it a few times in atlanta, but there are different varieties to the rice, and they never had the one I was used to: a medium grain sticky white rice. But behold! They had a whole shelf devoted to different kinds of sticky rice. Now, sticky rice is, well, sticky. Very sticky. When cooked properly, its more sticky than sushi rice, and makes a great dessert. Of course, there is another part of this puzzle that's also fallen into place here in california...the mangos. There are many different types of mangos. Thai mangos are not like the regular variety you get in most supermarkets. The mangos I crave are sweet and buttery--there's no bitterness, stringiness, or that nasty chalkly aftertaste I've come to despise. We've found Ataulfo mangos taste the same.

Instructions
So here's what you do: get sticky rice. Make sure its not the short grain but medium grain variety (medium looks like normal rice, short grain is almost round). Take 2 cups of rice and soak it for 5 hours in a bowl of water, covering the rice completely. Drain the rice, and put it in a rice cooker with the water about a 1/2 inch above the rice. Cook for 25-40 minutes (I have a rice steamer, not cooker, so it takes the longer amount). If you're not sure, take a bit out of the middle--if any of the grains are hard, cook it longer. While its cooking, mix a cup of coconut milk with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp salt (you need the salt!) until it dissolves. When the rice is done, mix it well with this mixture and let it sit for 15 minutes so the rice absorbs the mix. Then serve it with sliced mangos!