The most famous sticky rice story is the story of loyal minister Qu Yuan whose suicide during China's Spring & Autumn period (770 - 476 BC) over 2000 years ago is still commemorated today by Chinese communities around the world by eating sticky rice dumplings on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.
The mortar that held together the bricks of the 21,000km long Great Wall of China built from 220 BC to 1644 AD was made with a mixture of clay and sticky rice.
But, sticky rice isn't a staple in China today.
Sticky rice commemorates the death of a Chinese patriot but Laotians celebrate life with sticky rice every day of their lives even now.
Sticky rice cultivation is believed to go back at least 4,000 years. North Carolina State University scientists using genetic research techniques concluded that sticky rice most likely first appeared in mainland Southeast Asia.
Mainland Southeast Asia was like a cauldron, a boiling crucible where the fortunes of kingdoms and empires churned, waxed and waned, rise and fell with boundaries shifting back and forth through millenniums. The region where sticky rice still hold sway in people's daily life today centres on Laos and extends beyond its borders into Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China.
Laotians eat the most sticky rice per capita in the world today - about 250 kg a year per person. In Laos, sticky rice is literally life. Laos grows its own sticky rice but still needs to import it like Singapore needs to import water because of the demand.
Sticky rice is so entrenched in the Lao psyche that it cannot be separated from being Lao. A Laotian Buddhist legend indicates the existence of sticky rice over 1,000 years ago there.
Sticky rice or glutinous rice is known as khao niew in Laos.
Laotians are so devoted to sticky rice that they call themselves luk khao niew or the "children of sticky rice".
Sticky rice is the staple carb which Laotians eat with many side dishes, fruits and even on its own with just fish sauce, in other words everything.
Sticky rice is served in woven bamboo containers with lid known as kratip to keep it warm.
There's a popular snack where sticky rice is simply dipped in fish sauce, grilled over charcoal and enjoyed like a kebab.
Laotians also have khao tom a dish of sticky rice, coconut, banana and mung bean used in Theravada Buddhist ceremonies during planting, rain, harvest and funerals.
The mildly sweet flavours of sticky rice is ideal for taming the robust, pungent and sharp tastes typical of Lao cuisine. It's the same with northeast Thai (Isaan) and northern Thai cuisine, regions which once were part of the Laotian Lan Xang kingdom. Sticky rice and jasmine rice once differentiate central Thais from north and northeast Thais.
Compared to white jasmine rice, sticky rice is considerably more chewy (never fluffy), contains more sugar and starch, takes longer to digest so we feel sated longer. Chewiness and "fillingness" are the two common reasons why it is hard to convert people who grow up on jasmine rice to sticky rice.
Laotians eat sticky rice with their hands, pinching a small lump from the rice mound, roll and press it into a little thick flat piece with a slight dimple made with the thumb and use it as a sort of spoon to pick up food and / or sauce. The connection from food, hand, mouth, gut to soul is seamless, one, complete and whole.
No matter where they are in the world, sticky rice binds Laotians together.
But, the best known sticky rice dish from Southeast Asia is the Thai mango sticky rice dessert or kao niew mamuang. It's sticky rice drizzled with coconut milk, dressed with bits of fried mung bean and eaten with fresh mango.
In 2018, CNN named mango sticky rice one of "The World's Top Desserts".
The dessert again went viral globally when Thai rapper MILLI performed her song "Mango Sticky Rice" and ate it on stage at Coachella music festival in California in 2022. The Thai prime minister proposed to submit mango sticky rice for UNESCO world heritage recognition - so much pride in the dessert.
The earliest mention of Thai mango sticky rice was during the late Ayutthaya period (1351 - 1767), some 500 - 600 years ago. It is believed to be created in the palace kitchen by fusion of sticky rice, Indian kheer pudding and local fruits such as mango. Palace cooks brought the dessert out of the palace kitchen and popularised it among the public. Today, it is a Thai icon, and most famous form of sticky rice (besides the Chinese sticky rice dumpling or zong zi).
Sticky rice is perfect with the robust flavours of another Lao dish, green papaya salad 👈 click
A brief history of Laos from a foodie perspective 👈 click
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