Watch this space for more Thai food now that summer is coming. Tropical fruit gets all the love, but vegetables like eggplants, peppers, and squash are unique products of hot temperatures as well, and with summer comes the opportunity to cook like we live someplace warmer. Like Thailand.
My sweet tooth has always liked the idea of eating dessert first, and we’re starting our summer Thai series with it here. I have to admit that we cook less Thai food now that Little Uncle makes it so well and so close by, but the flip side of that coin is that it was one of their desserts that reminded me to dig out this recipe for black sticky rice pudding. (The dessert in question was kabocha squash simmered in sweet coconut milk; watch for it on the menu!) It’s a great dessert to make for a party because it’s so simple yet visually impressive, and also because you can make it in advance and serve it cold or gently reheated.
Little Uncle’s simmered kabocha was excellent stirred into this rice pudding, but if you don’t have any handy you can just serve it plain, as I usually do, or with mango slices stirred in or on the side. Of course you can also make this dessert with white sticky rice in place of the black, although, as you’d expect, the resulting color is a bit more pedestrian. Try to remember to save a swirl of the thick coconut cream from the top of the can to garnish the dish.
Black Sticky Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk: Boil 1 ½ c. black sticky rice (or white, if you must) with 3 c. water and a good pinch of salt. Lower heat and simmer 30 minutes, until rice is cooked, stirring occasionally. Add 1 c. coconut milk (not light, please) and ¼ c. sugar (or more, to taste) and simmer 5 mins. Garnish with more coconut milk. Serve hot or cold, with or without mango slices stirred in or on the side.
This recipe comes from a compilation of recipes we got from the cooking school we attended in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The original recipe can now be found online here, and here’s a link to the school’s fancy new website. We loved the week-long class we took here, and I highly recommend it next time you’re kicking around Thailand!
Emmy Cooks 
I have black rice and using it for rice pudding sounds good.
It probably doesn’t taste much different from a brown rice pudding with coconut milk, but it certainly looks more dramatic!
That sounds fantastic. Can’t wait to make it! At my favorite Thai place in Vegas, The Lotus of Siam, they serve this coconut ice cream over sticky rice infused with coconut chunks. It is to die for. This reminds a bit of that and of summers spent visiting my uncle in Thailand. (it’s only an hour flight from dhaka to bangkok)
I’m not sure if I’m more likely to get to Bangkok or Las Vegas first, but whichever it is, I look forward to enjoying great Thai food there! :)
Yum! So excited for Thai recipes! This looks amazing…I’ll be staying tuned Emmy!
Me too! I have been digging through my recipes and looking forward to a visit to my favorite Thai grocery store.
That is too ridiculously easy! Can’t wait to try it!
It really is easy–I like a one-pot dessert that isn’t too unhealthy and can feed a crowd!
This sounds really good. I’m off to find black sticky rice now!
daisy
Enjoy! And I bet it would work with any short-grain black or even red rice. My co-op has some fun ones in the bulk section.
Love this! Thai is one of my favorite cuisines – I can’t wait to see what you post!
Me too! I always like planning out an upcoming cooking spree. :)
Sitting in my childhood bedroom, where it’s hot, hot, hot, but happily so. You’re so right, the hints of summer make thai flavors that much more appealing. I haven’t tried to make sticky rice before, but perhaps it’s time.
This is really just a standard rice pudding that has enough liquid that no precision is required. I think when I started making it the only black rice around was the Thai black sticky rice, but now there are so many options! Enjoy the heat and you can get back to the stove when you return to July-uary in Seattle. :)
Yummy yummy! And a cooking course in Thailand? That sounds like it was really cool :-)
It was great. I highly recommend both Thailand and the cooking school!
I want to eat my way through Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore . . . wait . . . there is actually not any country that I wouldn’t want to eat my way through except for Papau New Guinea. I will pass on Papua New Guinea.
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Something exotic to try! The usual (white rice with milk) seems pretty pedestrian by comparison. Cooking school in Thailand? What an experience that must have been!
I nearly took a cooking course in Chang Mai, but didn’t have the cash in the end. I will one day I hope. Thank you for bringing Thai food into today, especially this dessert. Do you think a little salt would add to this dish? I may be cooking this at quite an important occasion, it needs to be just right, like the street vendors in Bangkok do it! Happy days, lee (ps – I have voted for you as a ‘Lovely Blogger’ see here if you like, http://thebeachhousekitchen.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/beach-house-kitchen-voted-for-one-lovely-blog-award/, definitely not the first time, but always well deserved and accurate.)
This was one of my favorite dessert back when I was a kid. I ate it almost every week. I never know it’s called rice pudding, lol. Black sticky rice (plain, without coconut milk) is doing great with sweet pork or meat too. What makes it different from ordinary white sticky rice is the scent :)
I’m a total sucker when it comes to coconut milk. Can’t wait to give this one a try.