Not all Thai food comes with jasmine rice — in the Northeast (Isaan), sticky rice is the staple and eating it is a ritual.
Glutinous rice steamed in a bamboo basket until soft and slightly chewy — eaten with the hands, pinched into small balls and dipped in sauces or curries.
Pull off a small amount, roll into a loose ball with your fingers, press into a hollow and use it to scoop up the accompanying dish.
Always with Isaan food (som tum, larb, gai yang); mango sticky rice dessert; as takeaway from sticky rice carts.
Small bamboo containers of sticky rice sold from carts and markets for 5–15 THB — the perfect pocket snack.
Sticky rice hardens quickly once cool — the traditional bamboo basket keeps it warm and soft longer than a plastic bag, which is why vendors still use it despite the extra cost.
Requires soaking overnight and steaming rather than boiling — a genuinely different technique from jasmine rice that trips up most first attempts outside Thailand.