Food History: The Sweet Story of Mango Sticky Rice 

What a great story! Were there other things that you can remember loving/saving up for back when you were in school?

@@OTRontheroad as a bangkok Thai Chinese, I agreed with him Kor panich stick rice with Thai pudding is awesome after a meal near by a Yen ta four at Nai Uan Yentafo นายอ้วนเย็นตาโฟ เสาชิงช้า🎉🎉

I'll try rice with watermelon in your grandmother's honor!

Yes! My grandfather eat watermelon with rice too. It’s actually a very old recipe of dipping watermelon in dried fish flakes and eating with rice. But you can just eat watermelon with plain rice. There is a saying: If you start eating watermelon with rice it mean’s your getting old. Haha But definitely it’s eaten during the hot season.

@@OTRontheroad @icy2527 Yeah that's right, your comment brought me back the memories when I was younger when I lived with my grandparents. Being born and raised in the Northern Thailand, to be exact, in Lampang, which our staple food is sticky rice just like our cousin Isaan, we would have sticky rice with fruits depending on the seasons, not only watermelon in summer time as you mentioned. My grandpa said the same thing as your grandma did, "refreshing and filled up" he said. He usually had plain sticky rice with either watermelons or pineapples in summer and one local dish of Northern Thailand called Nam prik nam-pooh (chilli paste seasoned with fresh water rice-field crab dipping) is usually accompanied by muskmelon (แตงไทย), I don't know if other northern provinces do have this melon as accompaniment of Nam prik nam-pooh commonly though. When I was younger I could not have so much spicy food so whenever the grown-ups had this dish I always had plain rice with muskmelon.

omg my grandpa ate like that also 🥲

Cheers and very much appreciate it. Curious what the other of the two desserts would be?

I had to do that too. And now I want more!

In short, Isan and Lao used to be in the same kingdom called the Kingdom of Lan Xang (Million Elephants). In 1700, Lan Xang splits into Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak. Half of Vientiane and Champasak is now Isan region of Thailand. Same thing happened to Kingdom of Lan Na (Million Rice fields), the entire Kingdom is now Northern Thailand.

@@khanitchr Stop bullshit. Lanna was never a part of Laos in the entire of History. The Kingdom of Lanna was founded in the 13th century and existed as an independent state until it was incorporated into the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 16th century. After the fall of Ayutthaya, the region came under the control of the Burmese, and later became part of the Chiang Mai Province of Thailand.

@@pichupuche2474 First of all, I NEVER said it was. Read it again carefully this time. I said It was Lan Xang then part of it became Laos and the other part became part of Siam. I mentioned Lanna because it became part of Siam like Lan Xang.

For our differences nowadays is that, The Thai side has more people and more wealth. Linguisticly speaking we speak same language with different dialect, also we Isan have a lot of Thai word. And in urban area especially bigger cities like Khonkaen, Udon, Ubon, Khorat you will find people mostly speaking Thai, code-switching, a lot will mix in Isan-Lao vocab while completely speaking Thai. And as a Thai person from Isan when I hear Lao people who are not from southern Laos speaking, it feels like hearing central Thai person trying to speak Isan but got the pitch and tone wrong, which is pretty weird. While in term of culture, I'm pretty sure we would be different as we develop differently in different country, but I myself not really sure what the differences are as I have never cross the border to experience what is like over there.

I grew up in Isan. While our cusine is very similar to Laotian, surprisingly, the Laotian cuisine is generally milder and simpler. Isan version of the same dish tends to features more ingredients and ridiculous intensity that we all know and love. It is a common misconception (even among isan people) that laotain cuisine is "more kickass" when compared to Isan in term of intensity. Similarity between isan and lao culture and language creates a lot misconceptions among Thai that both are the same. Cuisine is very similar but not the same (not to mention regionality of laotain cuisine). Languge is also very similar but not the same. We can understand each other enough to make sense of whats going on but there is a noticeable differences in dialect. You should check out Khon Kaen, one of the few large city where seemingly everyone speak isan (pretty uncommon for urban places to not mostly speak standard Thai) If you want more mindfuck, check out Surin Khmer.

Ha! Nice to hear. And yeah- I'm definitely going to explore fruits at some point....either when we do a few days in Chanthaburi, or down the road in some further locations I'm hoping to film

@@OTRontheroad I'm sure the fruit season is near from the time you commented this and Chantaburi is perfect to find fruits and its many variation. Be sure to get many as possible ! and in time for the season.

Cheers Doug! Thanks a lot and appreciate the kind words.

Thanks so much! Glad you found us.

I beg to differ. As a Thai, there are several types of mango that can be paired with sticky rice. They will give different profiles depending on the mangoes, but the 'good' flavored sticky rice remains constant, most of the time. So if your mango is just 'ok,' and the sticky rice is good. That can be forgiven. But that can't be said with bad sticky rice. There are so many types of mangoes in Thailand. I can think of 20-30 well-known ones. There are actually many more types of mangoes. However, not all of them can be paired with sticky rice. For example, some will strictly be eaten raw with or without dipping sauces. Different types of mangoes will give different overall flavor profiles when matched with sticky rice. People prefer different types of mangoes, similar to eating Jusmin rice with different curries.

Thanks a lot for the comment and it means a lot. At least there's a new one online tonight and I think it's one you'll really like (it's one of my favorites we've done at least). I'm curious if you've watched them all- can you let me know which ones stand out to you? Would be interested to know your favorites if you don't mind.

Thank goodness for that.

ข้าวเหนียวเป็นพืชทั่วไปที่พบใด้ในพม่า.ไทย.ลาว.เขมร.เวียตนาม.จีน.. ลาวไม่ใด้เป็นต้นกำเนิดข้าวเหนียว..กะทิก็เหมือนกันถ้าบอกว่ามาจากอินเดียใต้.หรือมุสลิมพวกมาเล.อินโดก็พอจะเชื่อ.แต่ถ้ามาจากเขมรไม่เชื่อ

Check out our video on Khanom Jeen if you want- we do a deep dive into the Mon people on that one! Cheers. Will look for the dish

Are you from Sri Lanka? One of the best food countries on the planet. I adore the food there and can't wait one day to come back to film.

Thanks for the comment. I can say with absolute certainty that within the country, the "S" is never used. It began from a mis-spelling on a map by a French cartographer (not as egregious as it seems, because in French, the "S" is silent), but within the country it never existed. The official name of the country is the Lao People's Democratic Republic, and in the local pronunciation it's also "Lao", not "Laos". I will make you a promise- if you pronounce it "Lao" when talking with Lao people, they will very much appreciate it. The best thing to do is to forget the "S"- it was never supposed to exist and inside the country, it doesn't, so pretend it's not there.

​@@OTRontheroad Thank you for the clarification! Just wanted to say that I discovered your channel only this week, and I am beyond impressed at the quality of your research and presentation. Many historical presenters fall into one of two camps: the lazy ones fall victim to popular myths and present them as fact, and the better ones dismiss the myths as nonsense as they unearth historical fact. I love that you take the more holistic approach of acknowledging myth and legend, searching for its origin, and presenting absolute fact when it exists, and presenting your explicit assumptions when facts are unavailable. I'm not sure I've seen anyone else, on any historical topic, present their research this way and I'm so grateful for your approach. As a lover of both food and history, your origin stories and historical deep dives have brought me so much knowledge and joy. My only criticism, if I had to come up with one, is that you're only in Thailand and there's only one of you- I wish there were someone like you to explore every cuisine and every culture around the world! That being said- as a Chinese-Taiwanese-American, I've heard an enormous amount of what I have to assume is urban legend being peddled as the supposed origin of many allegedly traditional Chinese and Taiwanese dishes, and most of my family parrots them under the guise of "we're Chinese, obviously we know what we're talking about, how could a white guy historian know better than us?" Some of your Thai origin stories have already touched on these as they cross over into Chinese and Taiwanese history- would you consider focusing more explicitly on culturally Chinese cuisine if you're interested?

Yes you are,since I know how to eat mango sticky rice crunchy mung beans always with it.

I'm curious if the Hokkien spoken in Penang is really the same as Phuket since I've lived in Penang before and found the Hokkien there to be uniquely Penang...different from Klang, Johor or Singapore.

@@jsurfin1 Hokkien is not much used now in Phuket but the older generation do. In the past Phuket had strong economic ties with Penang. Even the style of older houses are very much like their contemporary in Penang. Same with Yangon. They even have the surname clan associations. The older road side hawkers could speak and understand Penang hokkien. Actually the Penang style of hokkien is spoken more outside of Fujian but not limited to Penang although over time it had adapted with more local loan words. Hokkien similar to Penang's can found in Eastern Taiwan, Manila and Indonesia especially Medan.

I wonder how old you are. I am middle-aged. My grandma, who passed away 15 yrs ago, and would have been 110 yrs old now introduced mango sticky rice to me -- it is always topped with toasted mung bean (ถั่วทอง). Sesame is often used to top many Thai desserts but is too overpowering and distracting to be paired with sticky rice eaten with mango in my opinion. Given that, I am only familiar with Bangkok, Songkhla, and Chiang Mai versions as I have lived in those places. Other provinces may have their own versions?

@@AcademeX As Bangkokian I taste both of saseme and mungbean maybe it's depend on that personal recipe but i agree with you mungbean is more good along with sticky rice

Just responded to someone else who also wrote this question. But in summary- couldn’t find any proof on this but very happy to be proven wrong and will certainly research it and look into this when we visit Laos and Isaan soon!

@OTR Food & History great content. Can't wait to see more and if you ever find out more about this research. I'm considered a Lao Culture specialist here but not really that much historical knowledge especially on food. I've always wanted to explore Laos to find those lost dishes. I think even for myself in the US my mom used to cook dishes when I was a child that I vaguely remember being fond of but don't really remember what it is and she also has forgotten what she used to make. Many Lao Cultural dishes in the US have been reduced down to what I call "party" foods that you see at every gathering while the ones you really just make at home for your family are dying out. So for me your content and discovery is all very cool. Glad I came across your channel.

Hah- we struggled trying to decode that one for ages. Thanks!!

@@OTRontheroad Of course! Decoding while unable to see lip movement is challenging. Your Content is amazing, even though I'm Thai, I don't know almost all these historical information. Thank you too.

I did try to look into this but didn’t get anywhere that made any sense- however I am very happy to be wrong if I can dive in deeper and find some proof that it does correlate in that way. Will explore this when we go to Laos and Isaan later this summer

​@@OTRontheroad It was just a reply to these two comments: @Ith007 Definitely not. Coconut/ coconut milk was not used in traditional lao/isaan cuisine. And I bet, back in the old days, there were not any coconut trees in both lao/issan either @snilrach @Ith007 oooo that's true. especially since lao is a landlocked country. Based on Louis Delaporte, coconut plantations would have existed at least since 1860 in Laos. Khao tom is one very old dessert that used coconut milk in Laos. But overall, I agree with you that Laos people love coconut water, but they are not too fond of having coconut milk in their food.

@@jimmichael276 that’s what happens when I try to read and reply in the middle of the night. Cheers. Got it

​@OTRontheroad yall got all wrong, even though Laos never made into bussiness like Thai ..I remember 1980 was only 6yrs old.. my Aunt make coconut cream using fresh coconut for her kowphoon or ko nom Chine back in the 80s

​@OTRontheroad if it don't make any sense my auntie still have the old machines how she carved out the coconut before turning it into cream or coconut milk

I think the cooking technique is the same. So it would definitely make sense that there’s some common history

Definitely not. Coconut/ coconut milk was not used in traditional lao/isaan cuisine. And I bet, back in the old days, there were not any coconut trees in both lao/issan either.

@@Ith007 oooo that's true. especially since lao is a landlocked country.

⁠@@chung388 they talked about history like 500 years ago, not when your aunt cooking, coconut is a tree near beach by natuaral

@Ith007 maybe not ur family but by family use coconut....I still see and recall.the incident.

I mean in this video, we show examples of Bangkok-based mango dishes going back to the early 1800s. So I'm not sure what you say isn't exactly true?

@@OTRontheroad I think I might have heard it wrong. My mistake.

@@knotsripol No problem!

Curious where you are? You're based in Thailand?

Of course, no question- it was one of the first things I sought out as a traveler to thailand. But it did become one of the top trending topics in the world last year because of this

If that's the case why Laos ate more sticky rice than most S.E asian...If u can answer my ?..

@@chung388 Thai people in the past would mainly eat sticky rice. Cooked rice has just begun to be eaten in the Ayutthaya period after having trade with foreigners and mostly eaten by the elite before spreading to people. But that's not to say that we didn't have sticky rice before. It still exists it never goes away.

@@bosse9996 and why today more people eaten jasmine rice in Bangkok..Mainly. the food in Bangkok is made to. Be eaten with Jasmine rice , like curry and pad kra Pow muu krob..

@@chung388 Didn't you read what I told you? Cooked rice (jasmine rice) was popularized in the Ayutthaya period by the elite and spread to the people. It's a culture change.

@@chung388 But then, even though the culture has changed. This means that we have never had sticky rice before? Did I mention that Laos doesn't eat a lot of sticky rice? I'm saying that sticky rice didn't just start spreading from Laos in the 18th century. Sticky rice has been in the region for a long time. So let me ask you Why Papaya Salad is a Lao dish Even though there has never been a papaya in Laos before? Is it because they mainly eat papaya salad? Papaya spread to Laos by Thailand, and papaya spread to Thailand by trading with foreigners. Eating a lot of it is the origin of it? Did the papaya originate in Laos?

ลาวแดงฟูดส์

Agreed in general with some of your points- but it seems that glutinous rice (based on archeological evidence) does come from the small region in the central Mekong River. So most likely that was the first region to use it in cooking. Thanks for watching!

You're right. Sticky rice is preferred to long grain rice in the regions where tai-kadai people live. People in the north of Thailand and Shan state, Burma traditionally eat sticky rice. They came down from Yunnan on a different route from where the maekong river runs through.

@@OTRontheroad can you direct me to the study which says glutinous rice originates in the central mekong river? it just doesn't make any scientific sense at all for some researchers to make such a conclusion based on pieces of ancient rice found in such a small area of land.

@@OTRontheroad I see and agreed

@@OTRontheroad sticky rice might associate with short grain rices like Japanese it’s kinda sticky too ? What do you think?