Cooking with "Cradle of Flavor"

[FoodMan]

Hope you are not all tired of simple Satay pictures, but this stuff is just awsome. So awesome that I had to convince myself that it's ok to eat some more around midnight...cold...dipped in some peanut sauce.

I made both beef and chicken satays with peanut dipping sauce and the sweet soy and lime sauce.

I also made the lemon grass scented coconut rice. What a great way to cook rice. Certainly will be making this again. Last but not least is the sauteed bok choy with chilies and garlic.

[djyee100]

Beautiful satays and sauces, Food Man.

Here's another classic dish from C of F, Javanese Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng). This is a spicy fried rice with red chile flavoring paste and kecap manis. A convenient recipe if you have lots of leftover rice in the fridge. (Otherwise not so convenient, since the rice must be cooked and chilled before making the fried rice.) The dish is topped with firm-cooked fried eggs and garnished with fresh cucumbers on the side. A comfort-food meal.

I'm on a cooking hiatus for a few wks, but I'll be around and interested in seeing what other people are cooking.

[djyee100]

An update for you.

Cradle of Flavor

Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore

by James Oseland

Recipe Index:

(numbers refer to post #s on this thread)

CONDIMENTS: SAMBALS, DIPPING SAUCES, DRESSINGS & PICKLES

Javanese Sambal - 156, 285

Nyonya Sambal - 10, 169, 245, 249

Lemongrass & Shallot Sambal - 51

Green Mango Sambal - 185

Sweet Soy Sauce & Lime Dipping Sauce - 40, 74, 116, 188, 301

Nyonya Dipping Sauce - 136, 142

Soy Sauce, Chile & Lime Dipping Sauce - 202

Sweet & Sour Chile Dipping Sauce - 207

Javanese Peanut Sauce - 124, 198, 301

Sweet & Sour Cucumber & Carrot Pickle w/Turmeric - 17, 40, 51, 112, 236

Javanese Cucumber & Carrot Pickle - 74, 97, 142, 158, 198, 199, 235, 281

South Indian-Style Eggplant Pickle - 157

Malaysian Spiced Pineapple Pickle - 100, 292

STREET FOODS

Beef Satay - 10, 40, 45, 59, 112, 188, 301

Chicken Satay - 74, 177, 198, 301

Shrimp Satay - 259

Gado Gado - 124

Chopped Veg. Salad w/Coconut & Lime Leaf Dressing - 116

Crisp Jicama & Pineapple Salad - 45

Fried Sweet Plantains - 160

Bean Sprout & Potato Fritters - 207

RICE & NOODLES

Steamed Rice - 74, 142, 199, 202

Lemongrass Scented Coconut Rice - 10, 40, 51, 97, 188, 259, 301

Celebration Yellow Rice - 83, 112, 144, 240, 281

Spiced Nyonya Rice - 235

Javanese Fried Rice - 10, 116, 302

Herbal Rice Salad

Stir Fried Chinese Egg Noodle w/ Shrimp & Asian Greens - 210, 249

Penang-Style Stir-Fried Kuey Teow Noodles - 154, 283

Chicken Curry Noodle Soup, Kuala Lumpur Style - 67

VEGETABLES

Stir Fried Asian Greens w/ Garlic & Chiles- 74, 134, 153, 217, 281, 283, 295, 301

Stir Fried Bean Sprouts w/ Chinese Chives or Scallions - 123, 157, 166, 249

Sauteed Cabbage w/Ginger & Crispy Indian Lentils - 286

Braised Cabbage w/ Dried Shrimp - 149, 164

Stir Fried Water Spinach, Nyonya Style - 17, 129, 183, 229, 245

Green Beans with Coconut Milk - 112, 144, 149, 156

Ching Lee's Braised Lemongrass Long Beans - 100, 119, 299

Rohati's Crisp-Fried Potatoes w/Chile & Shallot Sambal - 10, 150

Potato Rendang - 32, 173, 249

Fern Curry with Shrimp - 267

Asiah's Eggplant Curry - 36, 202

FISH & SHELLFISH

Fragrant Fish Stew w/Lime & Lemon Basil - 229, 261

Spice Braised Tuna - 10

Padang Fish Curry - 10

Hot & Sour Fish Stew w/Bamboo Shoots - 260

Indian-Style Fish Stew w/Okra - 286

Pan-Seared Mackerel w/Chiles & Garlic - 10, 134

Pan-Seared Tamarind Tuna - 51

Stir-fried Tamarind Shrimp - 130

Grilled Whole Fish w/Lemon Basil & Chiles

Nyonya Shrimp Curry w/Fresh Pineapple & Tomatoes - 217

Stir-Fried Shrimp Sambal - 10, 173, 273

Black Pepper Crab - 252

POULTRY

The Soto King's Chicken Soup - 113

Javanese Chicken Curry - 120, 185, 280

West Sumatran Chicken Curry - 106

Chicken Rendang w/Cinnamon & Star Anise - 10

Nyonya Chicken & Potato Stew - 110

Mien's Garlic Fried Chicken - 156

Nyonya-Style Spiced Fried Chicken - 136, 142

Kevin's Spiced Roast Chicken w/Potatoes, Penang Style - 112

Javanese Grilled Chicken - 83, 97, 112, 144

Grilled Coconut Chicken w/Lemon Basil - 17, 166, 183, 187

Nyonya Duck Soup w/Salted Mustard Greens - 169

BEEF, GOAT & PORK (FOODS OF CELEBRATION)

Beef Rendang - 32, 90, 125, 158, 193, 198, 199, 234, 251, 281

Spiced Braised Nyonya Pork - 10, 100, 105, 157, 158

Malaccan Beef & Vegetable Stew - 236, 245, 251

Javanese Spiced Oxtail Stew - 285

Achenese Goat Curry - 176, 182, 292, 299

TEMPEH, TOFU & EGGS

Garlic-Marinated Tempeh - 201, 202, 272

Tempeh Sambal w/Lemon Basil - 280

Carmelized Tempeh w/Chiles - 240

Tofu & Summer Vegetables in Coconut Milk - 274

Twice-Cooked Tofu w/Coriander - 224

Fried Eggs w/Garlic, Shallots, Chiles & Ginger - 16, 123

Kopi Tiam Soft-Boiled Eggs - 164

Chile Omelet - 153, 295

SWEETS & BEVERAGES

Indonesian Spice Cake - 152

Nutmeg Tea Cookies - 163, 165

Purple Rice Pudding w/Coconut Milk

Sweet Spiced Mung Bean Porridge - 164

Plantains w/Coconut Milk & Palm Sugar - 236

Sweet Rice Dumplings w/Palm Sugar & Coconut - 291

Cinnamon Tea - 134

Hawker's Tea - 220

Warm Spiced Limeade - 162

Lime-Cordial Syrup - 296

Singapore Slings

[thelawnet]

I just cooked my first recipe from this book.

The ayam panggang sulawesi was delicious, and not a technique (pre-cooking) I've come across in Indonesia. The bumbu was delicious authentic-tasting - Indonesian chicken bumbu is always turmeric-based.

We had no lemon grass so substituted grated kaffir lime and dried (largely tasteless) galangal. I was a bit surprised about tying lemongrass in knots. I couldn't particularly see the point of this, although I guess it is artistic. Just a good bruising with the side of a cleaver and splitting into two would seem more effective at eliciting the citral.

We also lacked fresh turmeric so used dried - somewhat sacrilegious in Indonesia, where I recall taking my mother-in-law to an Indian restaurant where she was not impressed with the taste, telling me that 'Indians make their curry from powder'.

Just a comment on chilis, the chilis used were 'cabe merah', as per

http://indonesianfoodmart.com/catalog/cabe...3dd3af0ad0e1468

I think the Indonesian variety are a little longer than the Thai ones that we seem to get in the UK, although certainly the same shape. My mother-in-law did insist that the chilis weren't as tasty when she visited as the ones back home.

These are the most important chili used for nearly all foods.

The second chili used is 'cabe hijau' (green chili), which is the same size and shape as cabe merah but green in colour

They are used for dishes requiring the less fruity taste sweet characteristic of this red chili. They can be used in huge quantities to bring out the distinctive green chili flavour - requiring an Indonesian stomach for chili.

The final chili required is 'cabe rawit' (birds eye chili). THese are tiny, not used for cooking, just for sambal and should be chewed on while eating to add extra spice. Strictly for the experts.

[Sam Iam]

We're going to KL at the end of March for two weeks. My SonIL teaches math at the International School, and his wife has a belly dancing school (feel free to check out www.yalla-bina.net ), and we'll be staying with them. I now have the cookbook, and will start looking for ingredients to prepare some dishes, and get a feel for what we have in store for us!

[Chris Amirault]

We had no lemon grass so substituted grated kaffir lime and dried (largely tasteless) galangal. I was a bit surprised about tying lemongrass in knots. I couldn't particularly see the point of this, although I guess it is artistic. Just a good bruising with the side of a cleaver and splitting into two would seem more effective at eliciting the citral.

←

I think that the idea is to prevent the threads from the lemon grass from splintering off and staying behind in the sauce. Having said that, I agree that it's not necessary. I also can't figure out how exactly to tie the damned things.

[Thomas A Johnson]

Last week I made Tofu and Summer Vegetables in Coconut Milk (page 327) -- with one modification -- I added some grilled chicken breasts (grilled to carmelization) pulled into appropriately sized pieces (like "pulled pork"). My first time using dried shrimp paste, fresh turmeric, and fresh galangal. I used dried arbol chiles. For the carrots, I used those little carrots which come already peeled. I used extra firm tofu and, finally, a cabbage labeled where I bought it as "Chinese cabbage". I grilled the chicken in one of those pans with ribs -- on pretty high heat -- so that it left nice carmelized grill marks on the chicken.

I made the soup with my friend Kara on Monday night; she loved it right away and the next day, as did I. But, when I finished it off on Thursday and Friday nights, it was transcendant -- stylish, exotic, and delicious.

I previously made Javanese Chicken Curry (page 275) (the West Sumatran version from page 277, the spicy version). I liked it, but will not use bone in next time. I have a source for wonderful fresh boneless skinless breasts and that's what I will use next time. I hope the taste contribution of the bones is not critical. With the sauce being fluid, I find it hard to deal with the bones.

The first thing I made from the book was Lemongrass-Scented Coconut Rice (page 176) -- about two months ago. I found it nice, but not exactly riveting. I'll try it again sometime, maybe with black rice.

It's taken a while to gather all the ingredients necessary to get going in James's book, but it has been worth it and I anticipate many further adventures.

[crouching tyler]

Welcome to eGullet, and glad to have you joining us in the Cradle of Flavor adventures (which sounds like a movie title - imagine Indiana Jones in an apron, with a whisk made of lemongrass...).

Last week I made Tofu and Summer Vegetables in Coconut Milk (page 327) -- with one modification -- I added some grilled chicken breasts (grilled to carmelization) pulled into appropriately sized pieces (like "pulled pork").  My first time using dried shrimp paste, fresh turmeric, and fresh galangal.  I used dried arbol chiles.  For the carrots, I used those little carrots which come already peeled.  I used extra firm tofu and, finally, a cabbage labeled where I bought it as "Chinese cabbage".  I grilled the chicken in one of those pans with ribs -- on pretty high heat -- so that it left nice carmelized grill marks on the chicken.

I made the soup with my friend Kara on Monday night; she loved it right away and the next day, as did I.  But, when I finished it off on Thursday and Friday nights, it was transcendant -- stylish, exotic, and delicious. 

I previously made Javanese Chicken Curry (page 275) (the West Sumatran version from page 277, the spicy version).  I liked it, but will not use bone in next time.  I have a source for wonderful fresh boneless skinless breasts and that's what I will use next time.  I hope the taste contribution of the bones is not critical.  With the sauce being fluid, I find it hard to deal with the bones.

The first thing I made from the book was Lemongrass-Scented Coconut Rice (page 176) -- about two months ago.  I found it nice, but not exactly riveting.  I'll try it again sometime, maybe with black rice.

It's taken a while to gather all the ingredients necessary to get going in James's book, but it has been worth it and I anticipate many further adventures.

←

[RobertCollins]

Wow, I've now read the whole 308 posts and must say I am impressed. That a group would show such dedication to this task is remarkable, not to mention how the food photos inspire.

I ordered the book by post 25 and can't wait for WED. Amazon had it for $23 and change. Ever notice that so many books that would be bought as a one off are priced just a buck and change below the $25 free shipping limit. No fools they.

[markemorse]

So who's going to finish off the last 4 recipes? I'm thinking of trying the purple rice pudding.

[djyee100]

So who's going to finish off the last 4 recipes? I'm thinking of trying the purple rice pudding.

←

Great minds think alike. Do you know that Robin and I have been emailing each other this week about cooking on this thread again?

I'm willing to do at least one recipe, maybe the Grilled Whole Fish or the Herbal Rice Salad. If someone out there really really wants to do one of those recipes, pls say so, and I'll do the other one.

[crouching tyler]

So who's going to finish off the last 4 recipes? I'm thinking of trying the purple rice pudding.

←

Great minds think alike. Do you know that Robin and I have been emailing each other this week about cooking on this thread again?

I'm willing to do at least one recipe, maybe the Grilled Whole Fish or the Herbal Rice Salad. If someone out there really really wants to do one of those recipes, pls say so, and I'll do the other one.

←

I had planned to do one, or both, of those recipes tonight. But, my day has gone awry, and rather than cook, I am planning on going to the pub instead. So, my cooking is getting pushed back to Sunday night. And I'll probably do both recipes.

What do you think my chances of finding some Lemon Basil in March in Seattle are? Hmmm...

[djyee100]

So, my cooking is getting pushed back to Sunday night. And I'll probably do both recipes.

It's all yours, Robin. Good luck with the lemon basil.

[crouching tyler]

So, my cooking is getting pushed back to Sunday night. And I'll probably do both recipes.

It's all yours, Robin. Good luck with the lemon basil.

←

What? Don't leave me all alone in the kitchen. I was counting on some company in here!

Lemon basil was quite elusive - thai basil will have to do.

And today's fish is Rougheye Rockfish, whatever that is.... Maybe I'll show you a photo of this beauty in a little bit.

[crouching tyler]

So who's going to finish off the last 4 recipes? I'm thinking of trying the purple rice pudding.

←

How did that purple rice pudding turn out ?

[markemorse]

Sorry, kind of forgot it was a holiday weekend...neglected to stop at the Indonesian place before holiday shutdown. It'll have to be this week for the rice pudding...

[djyee100]

What? Don't leave me all alone in the kitchen. I was counting on some company in here!

You've got company on this thread, don't worry. I just meant I wouldn't cook the same things you're cooking. I never made it to the market on Friday or Saturday, so my COF cooking will happen next week.

Look forward to hearing more about the fish dish.

[crouching tyler]

Tonight, we had two dishes, that Mr. Oseland does not mention together. But, they were two dishes not yet cooked, and so they were served together.

Unfortunately, they were two sort of fussy dishes - lots of chopping, and in the case of the Herbal Rice Salad (Nasi Ulam), some fairly fussy chopping.

As for the Pepes Ikan (Grilled Whole Fish with Lemon Basil & Chiles), well... it was a dish that stressed me out. The stress comes from me - not Mr. Oseland, and certainly not from his again, wonderfully detailed instructions.

I didn't shop early enough, or possibly in the right place, so I did not have one of the fish types he recommended - which made me worry. My Rougheye Rockfish seemed (1) very very bony and (b) woefully lacking in "meat" and (iii) to be staring at me. I worried that the banana leaf parcel (wonderful phrase to say aloud repeatedly, by the way - try it - make a "banana leaf parcel" ... be careful with the "banana leaf parcel" ... place the "banana leaf parcel" close to the coals... transfer the "blp"....).

But as usual, everything turned out for the best. Upon cooking, the "meat" on the fish pulled right away from the bones, and was seriously infused by the flavoring paste. I should not have worried.

It is funny - I normally don't feel like anyone is going to laugh at my efforts here, despite the fact that I am blundering around, somewhat obliviously, in what is clearly very foreign territory. Tonight, I was prepared, however, for disaster - and for ridicule. I was ready for someone to pipe up and say, "Rougheye Rockfish - what in the world were you thinking? That is nonsense. Follow the recipe dammit - what do you think this is - the comments section of some food magazine's website?". And while someone may still says these things - and not be far off the mark, nonetheless, the rockfish tasted really good. And, furthermore, I learned how to grill a whole fish. And while the successful meal is definitely importants, so is the learning. In all truthfulness, I also learned to not try to shop for fish at 1:00 p.m. on Easter Sunday.... Slim pickings, I tell you.

The Nasi Ulam was a bit dry for my taste - but I can see the appeal. I think I will use it in fried rice some time this week. The fish, though fussy, staring and worrisome, was wonderful.

Pictures commence:

We began with Mr. Coconut - who was hacked open, grated, toasted, and grated again, for use as an ingredient in the Herbal Rice Salad:

Mr. Coconut was joined by Thai Basil, Vietnamese Basil/Rau Ram, Mint, Lemograss, and Lime Leaves:

which gave us, Nasi Ulam:

on the fishy side of things, we meet Mr. Rougheye Rockfish:

He is slathered in flavoring paste:

and, then turned into a Banana Leaf Parcel:

On the Grill:

Unwrapped:

Ready to serve:

[djyee100]

No ridicule from me. Kudos! Those were both fairly tough dishes to make, which is probably why they were still left to do when the countdown was T minus 4.

That fish looks great. I hesitated to make this dish because I thought the banana leaf wrapper would be hard to deal with. But it looks like it held up well on the grill. I once attended a party where a grilled fish like this was the center of the buffet table. People loved it and polished it off like that.

[markemorse]

Wow, the fish looks great and worth any fuss. I bet these two dishes were actually great together...

[crouching tyler]

No ridicule from me. Kudos! Those were both fairly tough dishes to make, which is probably why they were still left to do when the countdown was T minus 4.

That fish looks great. I hesitated to make this dish because I thought the banana leaf wrapper would be hard to deal with. But it looks like it held up well on the grill. I once attended a party where a grilled fish like this was the center of the buffet table. People loved it and polished it off like that.

←

The banana leaf was another source of all my fretting - as was finding a container to steam it in. But I ended up just sort of letting go of the worry, sort of being the key phrase.

I just plunked the banana leaf parcel in my biggest colander, set that on top of the pan of boiling water and didn't worry too much about the steam escaping out the sides. I expected the house to be thoroughly perfumed by fish (it steams for 30+ minutes), but the banana leaf kept all the fish smell contained. The banana leaf parcel was nowhere near perfect, but it didn't disintegrate, and held together on the grill, surprisingly.

And, the leftover Nasi Ulam makes for a nicely sweet, herbal fried rice, which now that I think about it, I am going to go have for lunch.

[djyee100]

Black Pepper Crab has already been cooked upthread, but it had problems. Both Prawncrackers and Pat_00 made some good comments for improving the dish. With their suggestions in mind, I decided to give this recipe a try.

The recipe calls for pre-cooked crab from the market. That's convenient, but not as tasty as fresh-cooked live crab. I bought 2 live Dungeness crabs, just under 4 lbs total weight.

Sauteed crab tastes best when it's made from fresh raw crab. But there's a difficulty here: doing in a live squiggly pinching shellfish using a knife. I've done this a couple times in my life, and I confess that when it comes to killing shellfish in this manner, I'm a wuss.

For people who are brave and skillful and who want to maximize flavor, Hzrt8w has an excellent thread on the traditional method here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...6&mode=threaded

I have my own system, of parboiling the crab before sauteeing it. It's easy, though the final result may not taste as great as if cooked from raw crab. But it certainly tastes better than supermarket pre-cooked crab. I can't say my method is more humane to the crabs, either, but it spares my feelings.

When I'm ready to cook the crabs, I unwrap them in the sink and keep them upside down and immobile. I rinse them under cold tap water. I bring a large stockpot of water to a rolling boil over high heat, and also prepare an ice bath for later use. Then I pick up the crab from the back end (to protect my hand from the pincers) and drop it quickly into the boiling water. I cover the stockpot to bring the water back to a boil ASAP. Watch the pot so that it doesn't boil over. I parboil crabs for about 5 minutes. The shell will turn red, and the legs will turn inward and under. That's how you know the crabs are ready for the next step. Then I pull the crabs from the pot and plunge them into the ice bath to stop the cooking action.

The parboiled crabs, drained from the ice bath.

When the crab is cool enough to handle, I pull off the top shell (don't discard it immediately, since you may want the tomale and crab fat in it--more about that later). An uncleaned crab looks like something out of the Alien movie.

The top crab is uncleaned, the bottom crab is cleaned.

Pull off the white-gray feathery things, which are gills, any facial parts, and the anal flap on the underside of the crab. The dark brown membrane in the middle of the crab body hides the abdominal cavity. I break through the membrane with a spoon and scrape out the cavity thoroughly. Discard the contents of the cavity, since it contains a little triangular gland that is toxic.

At this point some people like to rinse the crab under the tap. I don't. You're just washing away the tasty crab juices.

Back to the top shell. It has this ugly yellow and white gunk in it. The yellow gunk is a gland, often called tomale (though that may not be the proper scientific name for it), and the white gunk is crab fat. Both will add a savory umami flavor to any crab dish. I have been cautioned not to eat these parts because of the pollution in the ocean. Well...maybe not crab from SF Bay. But these crab were from (hopefully) more pristine waters in Alaska. I scraped out the tomale and fat with a spoon, and added them with the crabmeat when I cooked the dish.

I like to cut up crab by splitting it in half along the abdominal cavity, then separating the legs. Then every piece has a leg and some chunky body meat.

At this point you can crack the claws and legs with a wooden mallet or nutcracker for easier eating. I rarely do. It's a messy job. I feel fine about handing nutcrackers to people at the table and letting them crack their own crab. Besides, the crab cooks up juicier if the shell is uncracked.

Prawncrackers said upthread that the dish was excessively spicy, and Pat_00 said that longer cooking would bring down the heat (posts #252, 254, 256). Both comments were very helpful (thanks, Prawncrackers & Pat). I adapted the recipe by making only half the quantity of the flavoring paste, with 2 level tablespoons of black peppercorns. Even 2 TB is a lot of ground black pepper. All the other ingredients in the flavoring paste were also halved, of course.

Then I sauteed the flavoring paste with oil in a wok over medium-low heat, per the instructions. The recipe gives a cooking time of 5-7 minutes. I first tasted the paste at 4 minutes cooking time, and that was a mistake. At 5 minutes, the paste still tasted harsh and wickedly hot (whew). At 7 minutes it was a little better but still too hot for me. The trick here, I think, is to keep cooking that flavoring paste until you reach a heat level you like (or you're so hungry you don't care). I reached that point (liking the heat level) at 10 minutes total cooking time for the flavoring paste. Keep in mind that the paste will cook for another 5 minutes or more with the crab.

The longer you cook the flavoring paste, the less harsh and hot the black pepper becomes, and the fruitiness of black pepper starts to show. The other spices, garlic, ginger, and turmeric, also mellow with longer cooking. So you decide how you want it.

At the end of the cooking time for the paste I added a few generous pinches of sugar to round off and combine the flavors even more.

I sauteed the crab pieces with the paste per the instructions.

Since the crab was only parcooked, I added another 3 minutes to the 5 minute cooking time suggested in the recipe. The crab didn't seem to need more time, and I was careful not to overcook it. As with any seafood, residual heat will cook the food quite a bit too.

The final dish was very tasty. But even with the changes I made in the recipe, this dish is still very spicy. Ideally, I wouldn't serve this dish as an entree because it is so spicy (although, to be honest, I ate a big plateful for dinner). Instead, I think this dish would make a splendid (if messy) appetizer--a small plateful per person. Eating with your hands seems to break the ice at parties, too.

I recommend serving this dish with lemon wedges. A spritz of lemon juice really enhances that black pepper flavor.

Despite the lengthy explanation here, this recipe is easy and quick to prepare, even if you start with live crab. (If you've never cooked live crab before, you'll get used to it.)

If anybody else cooks this dish, I'd love to hear about your results.

Edited March 27, 2008 by djyee100 (log)

[markemorse]

Here is Purple Rice with Coconut Milk:

Very delicious. Technically speaking, not too much to report here, as this is a very simple recipe....but I think I didn't quite cook this aggressively enough because it took 90 minutes or so to get to the puddingy point.

The salted coconut milk is an interesting addition. I wasn't sure how we'd feel about it, so I only added a little bit for the above picture. But, as in so many other cases, this is an example of more coconut milk making things better...I preferred it with the following amount of coconut milk:

Is that wrong?

+++

Edited March 26, 2008 by markemorse (log)

[djyee100]

Is that wrong?

Maybe it needs more coconut milk.

The dessert looks wonderful (both versions). I wondered why nobody cooked this easy recipe before. Maybe they were put off by "purple rice"? Too weird sounding? But the dessert is elegant. Maybe it should have been called "Black & White Rice Pudding."

[markemorse]

Is that wrong?

Maybe it needs more coconut milk.

The dessert looks wonderful (both versions). I wondered why nobody cooked this easy recipe before. Maybe they were put off by "purple rice"? Too weird sounding? But the dessert is elegant. Maybe it should have been called "Black & White Rice Pudding."

←

Or even "Black Rice Pudding" sounds a bit less alien than "purple rice". At least black rice sounds dark and mysterious, purple just sounds cartoony and unnatural. Of course, the resulting rice is purple, but black beans aren't really all that black either, y'know?

Maybe people didn't cook it b/c it's tough to find black rice? Dunno...but if you like rice pudding at all, you should try this. I was reeely tempted to put a cardamom pod in with the rice while it was cooking, but I didn't. I think the next time I make it, I might do this.

Edited March 27, 2008 by markemorse (log)