i want to write an ode to the perfection that is mango with sticky rice… but i’m not a poet and words fail me. what is it about the combination of sweet glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and buttery yellow mangoes that makes this probably the best dessert ever?

is it the hot and cold dynamic? is it the fact that there’s fruit to spice up what would otherwise be a milchreis? is it the coconut milk, mellowing the rice and turning the flavor into something exotic?

i have no answer to these questions. all i know is that whether they’re served in street food carts or on a restaurant table, the result is always the same: an explosion of flavors in our mouths that make our eyes close in happiness.

at some point we started cooking it on our temporary home in koh samui, because we couldn’t bear to go a minute longer without it. we’ve eaten so much of them that i fear that we’ll go through withdrawal symptoms once we get back.

alas, i’ve never seen a yellow mango in europe, and they’re so much better than our “normal” mangoes, that i wonder if we could get away with planting a mango tree in our backyard. it would take some years for it to grow, but it would definitely be worth it. mmmm….