The market · Grains and flours · Southeast Asia, East Asia
Sticky rice
Glutinous rice — no gluten, just a starch that steams into a chewy, clinging mass. Eaten by hand in northern and north-eastern Thailand and in Laos.
sweet · chewy
What to do with it
ThaiMango sticky riceSticky rice soaked in sweet, salted coconut milk, served warm with ripe mango and a spoonful of coconut cream.No one here has made it yetThaiLarbMinced meat cooked briefly and dressed warm with lime, fish sauce, chilli and toasted ground rice, with shallot, mint and coriander.No one here has made it yetKinds
- Long-grain (Thai)
- Soaked and steamed in a basket; with larb, som tam, or mango.
- Short-grain
- Mochigome in Japan; for mochi, rice cakes and zongzi.
- Black
- Purple-black bran on; for sweet puddings.
If you can't find it
Often sold as sweet rice or glutinous rice.
No real swap
Nothing else turns sticky like that — ordinary rice won't.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Southeast Asian grocers — labelled glutinous or sweet rice.
- Worth knowing
- Soak it for at least four hours, or overnight, then steam it. Don't boil it.