A number of years ago my husband visited a small Asian “mom and pop” store by where we lived. The owner had just finished making a batch of Black Sticky Rice (for personal reasons…I don’t think they were planning on selling any of it). My husband and the owner were carrying on a conversation for a while and through the course of that conversation it had come up that I was at home and pregnant at the time. The nice lady wrapped some up for him to take home for me…and that was my introduction to Black Sticky Rice! Oh my, what deliciousness!

Over our Christmas vacation while visiting family back in Illinois, we had a lovely Christmas dinner of Turkey….for a few days! After a few days of eating it, I started to have a little craving for something else. After looking in the cupboards, I saw a bag of black rice and an idea formed! I was going to try to recreate that wonderful dish of Black Sticky Rice. After scouring the internet for different recipes, I had an idea of how I wanted to make it, with a few modifications of course.

Now, I know it isn’t necessarily a pretty dish to look at, but my craving was quenched after eating it and I thoroughly enjoyed the finished product! It isn’t too hard to make, but finishing it off is a little time consuming.

If you are looking for something that is a little different to make as a dessert, why not try this out? Oh, and if you do, enjoy! -Shelley.

*Take note, I did double my recipe for the quantity I wanted to make, but the recipe itself won’t make quite as much as my batch did.

Black Sticky Rice

1 c black rice, rinsed and drained
3 c water
1 1/2 c canned coconut milk (unsweetened) (refrigerate the remaining portion to serve over the finished rice)
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c sugar + 1/8 c
1/2 t salt
1 cinnamon stick
1 t cornstarch + 1 T water, mixed together

Rinse the rice and drain it. Add the rice, 3 cups of water and 1/4 t of the salt and the cinnamon stick to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then cover with a lid and simmer for 45 minutes. At this point the rice will be cooked but still a little wet…that is okay.

While the rice is cooking mix together the 1 1/2 c of coconut milk, vanilla, sugars and the remaining 1/4 t of salt.

After the 45 minutes of cooking, uncover, remove cinnamon stick and add the coconut milk mixture to the rice and mix well.

Simmer at additional 30 minutes, stirring pretty often to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of your pan.

When there is about a minute left of cooking, add the cornstarch mixture and mix well to incorporate it into the sticky rice and continue to stir until the heat is off.

Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

This should make about 8 servings or so. You can divide evenly among bowls, or just scoop enough out for what you are going to eat at the time. Drizzle with the remaining cold coconut milk and top with cut up mango, if desired. Mmmm…mmmm…good!