Gettin’ sticky with it for National Mango Month
“Lao people are the ‘Children of the Sticky Rice,'” Chef Kevin Phanhvilay tells me.
You may have heard the phrase before, but it’s hard to fully grasp until you’ve had a Lao meal. Sticky rice is not just a staple carbohydrate. It’s interactive.
Off the bat, its extra-chewy texture is pretty glorious, its gentle fragrance one of comfort.
Then, comes the intimacy: Touching it, forming the bite-sized balls that become the lightly sweet and wonderfully starchy vehicle for sauces, vegetables, proteins. Sticky rice, for the most part, is eaten with your hands
“Khao niao,” says Phanhvilay, repeating its name in Lao. “It is a glutinous rice that is grown in Laos and Northern Thailand. It is ingrained in our culture. And we eat it with everything: breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert.”
It is so essential, in fact, that he named his Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant after it.
Sticky Rice Lao Street Food opened in 2017, “and we were the first Lao restaurant in Central Florida,” he tells me. But he also explains that in many cases, Lao food can be hiding in plain sight.
“A lot of Thai restaurants are owned by Lao people,” he says. “Our cultures overlap. And it is just easier to market a Thai restaurant than a Lao restaurant.”
Which is why Phanhvilay’s aunts and uncles, restaurateurs who came before, chose to do just that.
“[Thai and Lao] cuisines are similar. Even our languages are very similar.”
And you often will find mango sticky rice on the dessert menus in Thai joints, but Phanhvilay, a past winner of Orlando’s famed Ramen Rumble, wanted to set his apart from most. So, he made it “forbidden.”
In ancient times, this black variety of glutinous rice was reserved for Chinese royals — hence, “forbidden” for most — but these days, it is prized by the masses not only for its dramatic color (it turns a deep purple hue once cooked) but for its distinct nutty flavor and rich cache of antioxidants.
Steamed in bamboo with coconut water over the grill, the rice is then steeped in coconut milk, sweetened lightly with sugar and garnished with beautiful, bright slices of ripe mango, a drizzle of coconut cream and toasted coconut flakes.
As desserts go, it’s pretty close to perfect.
In fact, this past April, TasteAtlas.com, which compiles recipes and reviews from food critics worldwide, ranked the top 10 best rice puddings globally. Mango sticky rice came in second.
Phanhvilay, who grew up eating the forbidden rice version and feels that nostalgia in every bite, might balk at those rankings. The dish has been on his menu from day one.
“It’s very popular and I enjoy that,” he says. “It’s incredibly popular in Laos and Thailand, too, where mango trees are just about everywhere. My wife’s family has them in their front yard in Laos. We’ll just pull them off the trees and eat them in the morning at breakfast or as a snack.”
The simplicity of the dessert — “it’s very easy to make” — belies the complex flavors and textures.
“And the mango is definitely the star. You just cut it and let it be. The rice and the coconut milk enhance its flavor.”
Sticky rice is special, too.
“In Asian cultures, it’s almost like you have to have rice as part of your meal,” he says. “When I was a kid, I used to laugh every time my parents would take us to eat at KFC. They’d bring rice with us.”
No offense to the Colonel (I’ve killed a few buckets in my day) but in my version of food math, sticky rice > mashed potatoes from a mix, too.
“Lao people are very communal, ” says Phanhvilay, noting that if you’re familiar with Thai food you might want to give Lao fare a shot. “We always want to take care of our guests.”
My experience at the restaurant bears that out. Here, staffers have always been happy to explain how to eat things such as laab or lemongrass sausage using sticky rice as your edible utensil. And if you’re intrigued — but not entirely sold on finger food — come in for the sweet purple sticky rice dessert, anyway.
This one, you eat with a fork.
Sticky Rice Lao Street Food: 1915 E. Colonial Drive in Orlando, 321-800-6532; stickywithit.com
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