Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Another Sticky Rice and Mango Post

This has turned into an obsession. When in season, my mom would always hoard the sweetest of all mangoes from her hometown in Zambales, and we would all feast on it every single day of the summer.

I have a lot of mango memories to share. Two summers ago, our mango supply went totally out of hand that i was pressured to think of ways to use up all the mangoes that notoriously ripens every second. I was able to come up with mango cake, mango ice cream, mango float, ice candy, juice, and shake, just to save the mangoes from dying without a purpose.

Suddenly i remembered that summer when we christened my brother with his aka "the monster" when he contracted a severe face allergy because of consuming too much mango.

Still nothing compares to my mom's sticky rice and mango.

The sticky rice is cooked in a heavy pot, the way steamed rice is done, except that coconut milk is used instead of water. Slowly stir the rice once it starts to boil, cover, and simmer gently over the lowest heat until the rice is cooked all the way through.

Sticky rice slowly cooked in this "older-than-the-rest-of-us-pot", with the cover generously sprinkled with sea salt yields amazing results. I have yet to research the scientific basis of adding salt in the pot cover, but i guess it is believed to hasten the cooking process and to equally distribute the heat in all parts of the pot.

Sticky rice may be eaten dipped in table sugar, but it is still best served with naturally ripened "carabao" mango.

This is what perfect summers are made of. Seriously.

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