Mango sticky rice, or khao niao mamuang (khao niao being glutinous rice). It’s just about the only Thai dish I think about, besides the ful and pickles on Soi Arab. And if you said, hey, what’s up with that? You’d be right, that stuff isn’t Thai… I’ve tried a bunch of meals, and found a few eggplant ones and pumpkin ones edible, and the soups (particularly the lemongrass’d ones) are alright, but the Chaozhou (a city in southern China)-influences and addition of bones into lunches and dinners does not, a friendly cuisine with me make.
But, they’ve got that one refreshing yet slightly rich dessert going for them. I’ve lumbered into many a dead-end in Bangkok searching for the mixture of mangoes, sticky rice, coconut syrup (or serum; it’s fun being the judge), and optionally, something crunchy, as if a pebble and stale Rice Krispies® hit it off. Though the lumbering bit is true, this must be why I’ve only ever seen mango sticky rice in April and May, which are also the hottest times of the year to be in the Thai capital. The hottest time of the year to be in a tropical climate. Who’s on board? If you can’t deal, shift over to the shopping centers, they have plenty of air conditioning and not enough exits.
It might be good for you to keep in mind that, if you plan on eating mango sticky rice in a Thai/pan-that part of the world-ese restaurant, don’t get duped by out of season Thai mangoes. If you insist on ordering, you may have the same experiences I’ve had-a fruit that doubles as a bar of soap. In taste, that is. Even better news for those who suffer from gluten allergies, glutinous rice (this particular grain of rice requires hot water to become viscous) has no gluten so you’re good to go! If you don’t like mangoes…you get credit for making it this far.
Have fun savoring the photos in the slideshow, but not too much- a few months have decided to butt in before April does its thing.
Have you tried mango sticky rice? Can you tell which character in the title I deliberately misspelled? (The answer: even I wouldn’t know)
buildingmybento 
ok, the ticket for bangkok has just been booked.
will you be flying with boyd aviation?
Hi, I saw your comment on Goji Berries on the Aug 8th article/slideshow “On The Game Trail With Joe DiStefano”
Goji berries are not pitted dates…they are wolfberries. nothing to pit! they are a sweet very nutritious fruit used in medicinal chicken stews/broths or just normal cooking.
I grew up in Thailand and i LOVE mangoes and sticky rice. I wish I could find an authentic version of it here in the States but it’s difficult because the mangoes just don’t get ripe here the way they do over there.
It’s definitely one of my favorite Thai dishes, though I wish it was available year ’round from street vendors!
Have you tried other versions of the sticky rice, say with papaya or pineapple? Are those more common in other parts of Thailand?