This classic Thai dessert combines fresh mangoes with coconut milk and sticky (or glutinous) rice. The latter may be bought in any Asian food store.

Cover 250 g of sticky rice with water and soak overnight. Drain the rice and cook in a steamer for 45 minutes (line the top of the steamer with cheesecloth or, at a pinch, a tea-towel and spread the rice out in it). Then pack the rice into a bowl firmly, pressing it down.

In a saucepan, simmer together 700 mL thick coconut milk, 100 g sugar and a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Pour half over the rice then refrigerate for at least an hour. Peel and slice as many medium-sized ripe mangoes as will provide half a mango per serving.

Turn the rice-cake out of the bowl and slice it thickly Serve each slice with a fan of mango and spoon over the remaining sweet coconut milk.

From "Raw Materials" by Meryl Constance, Sydney Morning Herald 1/12/93.