Sticky Coconut Rice with Tempered Pineapple!

What an adventure we had hunting for ingredients! We took the bus to 74th Street/Roosevelt station, and then walked under the 7 train in Woodside, with all kinds of construction and noisy trains, until we reached our goal: 3 Aunties Thai Market. https://3auntiesthaimarket.com/

I went in only to get Thai sticky rice, which is different than sushi rice or long-grain rice, both of which were available at our local grocery store (I put in some research time looking up this sticky rice business!), and came out with plenty of on-sale snacks, and even a beautiful-looking durian flavored moon cake with two egg yolks in it! The moon cake weighed about a pound, and my kids tried it, but sadly, did NOT like it, and I could not eat it due to the wheat, dairy and egg inside, so we had to throw it out. :( However, the goal was achieved, and we made our way past many delicious-looking international restaurants to Target next to find Miyoko's unsalted vegan butter, which the Internet said was supposed to be at that location...it was NOT at that location. :( However, I did find it in one of our local health food stores, and thinking back on my trips to Whole Foods, this is actually one example of a local store beating the Whole Foods price by at least $1. The taste and texture and overall health value of Miyoko's is so much better than Earth Balance, it was worth the extra money, since I'm investing in my retirement health account. :)

So I had finally gathered all the ingredients, and the pineapple was nice and ripe. Time to cook!

The first step was to get the rice going with the coconut milk, stirring so that it wouldn't stick to the bottom of the pan. No sugar went into this coconut sticky rice, so any leftovers could be used for a sweet or savory dish. (I used the leftovers to make another Nadiya recipe from the dessert section...but you'll hear about that later. ;) Nadiya describes the point when the heat should be turned down as "bubbling and spitting furiously" and that you should turn the heat down so you don't get "spat at", which I loved, since I could hear her saying it as I read it. :)

I cut my fresh pineapple while the pudding was simmering on low, covered, and put it in a heat-proof bowl. Now was the part I had never done before: "tempering". I had seen chocolate being tempered on baking shows, but I honestly didn't know that other foods could be "tempered," and I'm still not exactly sure what it is (LOL!!!), but Nadiya walked me through it and somehow I survived, although I read almost too late while melting the butter that the caraway seeds were supposed to be ground before adding them to the butter (D'oh!). My solution was to turn off the pan, grind the seeds, and then turn the pan back on. Next time I'll know to do that ahead of time so I can just pour them in. :) Phew! After the almost-caraway snafu, I added the shredded coconut to the sizzling butter and spice, and stirred it until it was golden. Pouring the sizzling mixture on the cut-up pineapple (which I had added coconut palm sugar to previously) was really satisfying, and the smell that wafted up as I stirred it all together was pure heaven. I made myself a plate, with sticky rice on the bottom, and the tempered pineapple on the top, and I even added cinnamon after tasting it, although it really didn't need it!!!!

Kayden tried a piece of the pineapple (he doesn't like rice), and didn't really like it (he said it tasted "different"), but at least he chewed and swallowed it, and I have to give him props for bravery, especially considering how choosy he is with food. :) I LOVED THIS, and I can't wait to make it again!!! The tangy and sweet pineapple is a perfect pairing with the coconut sticky rice. I'm drooling just thinking about it, LOL!!

Here's a link to our YouTube video, including clips from our ingredient hunt, some other NYC culinary adventures, Kayden's 8th birthday (vegan dessert!), and Kayden cracking up asking Alexa about measurements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfvPceI21-Y. Enjoy!

"Life is not easy, but most things can be hacked" --Hak-e-ber (that's me:)