Rice Pudding

[Sandra Levine]

Rice pudding seems to be found in a wide variety of food cultures spanning the world -- Phirni in India, Thai sticky rice pudding (there is an existing thread on mango sticky rice pudding that I couldn't find), French riz a l'mperatrice, Chinese Eight Treasure rice pudding and mnay others, I'm sure. What are your favorites and how do you make them?

Here is Great Grandma Gussie's Rice Pudding. It's much firmer than the usual pudding, sliceable, in fact, and best served with a puddle of cream, but that, of course, is gilding the liver.

1 cup rice

4 oz. butter

1 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon (or more) vanilla

1 teaspoon orange extract

3 beaten eggs

cinnamon, to taste

1 cup milk

1. Cook rice in your usual fashion until done to your liking.

2. Add butter. Mix until melted.

3. Add sugar and salt. Mix well.

4. Add vanilla, orange extract, cinnamon and eggs. Mix well.

5. Stir in the milk.

6. Bake in buttered loaf pan at 400 F. for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Can be served warm or cold.

[laura]

Interestingly, that is the way my mother made rice pudding ,minus the orange extract. I think she obtained the recipe from the back of the uncle ben's rice box.

it was the way I thought rice pudding tasted until I was an adult and had the

creamy variety. I do like it both ways.

[LaurieA-B]

Here's that thread on sticky rice with mango. I love desserts and this is one of the best I've ever had.

[kitwilliams]

I've always been a fan of rice pudding but never made it myself before last year as my family are not fans. I used a recipe from one of Gilli Davies' books (she's a cook/writer of Welsh cookbooks) and she suggested brulee-ing the rice pudding. Needless to say, it was fabulous! Is that a common technique for rice pudding or am I just behind the times?

[ranitidine]

Kit--You're ahead of the times! By the way Laura, the late, lamented Garden Cafeteria, located at the corner of East Broadway and Rutgers Street (now the location of a really good dim sum restaurant) used to serve rice pudding both ways. One could choose the loaf or the creamy style.

[Bux]

This all reminds me that I've been watching the progress of a shop on Spring Street across from Lombardi's pizzaria in NYC. The name on the storefront is Rice to Riches, if I recall correctly, and a more recent sign in the window announces that it will be offering rice puddings. As the fixtures are installed it looks much like a potential gelateria. I don't know if there will be any tables. They seem to have installed a few stand up counters. I suspect they may be offering take away rice pudding in cups. Look out for a new trend. In a year or two we may have rice pudding trucks all over Manahattan. Watch out Mr. Softee.

[snowangel]

As I posted on the what would you bake on a cold and wet day thread:

Wild Rice Pudding. Made it today. It was not a cold and wet day; it was an almost sub-zero and snowy day:

2 cups half & half

4 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp gound Cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1-1/2 cups well-cooked wild rice

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 325 deg F. In a small saucepan, scald half & half; set aside. Beat eggs and sugar until frothy. Stir in cinnamon, salt, vanilla, wild rice, raisins and almonds. Gradually stir in half & half. Divide mixture evenly between six 6-ounce custard cups. Place in large metal baking pan; fill with hot water to within 1-inch of top of custard cups. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Remove custard cups from pan. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream.

[snowangel]

she suggested brulee-ing the rice pudding.

What's brulee-ing?

[kitwilliams]

she suggested brulee-ing the rice pudding.

What's brulee-ing?

As in creme brulee -- caramelizing a layer of sugar on top of the pudding. mmmm. crunchy and creamy.

[Anna N]

Danish Ris a l'amande - our Christmas dessert:

Long-grain rice cooked with1/2 vanilla pod and sugar until tender. Fold in stiffly-whipped cream and finely chopped almonds. Serve with a cherry sauce.

One whole almond is folded in and the lucky finder gets a prize. But the secret is to hide the almond under your tongue and let everyone else continue to hope it's in their serving!

[msp]

Rice pudding made with vanilla seeds scraped from the pod, and a mixture of milk and canned coconut milk....heaven.

[stellabella]

has anyone made black rice pudding? a friend sent the recipe and some black rice for my b-day one year. i haven't been able to find black rice since then.

the recipe was pretty basic, make the rice in the rice cooker as you normally would, using coconut milk instead of water, a little sugar and a pinch of salt. to make the pudding pudding-y, increase the proportion of coco milk.

i had this for dessert at a malaysian restaurant. i posted last summer about a gal with a PUDDING stall in borough market, london, who sold it, too.

i live for pudding. it's great for dessert and then again the next morning for breakfast.

[Schielke]

I love rice pudding in all its forms. My mother would make it fairly regularly and I would go nuts for the stuff. She had to warn me not to eat all of it or I would get in trouble.

Tonight's project: Rice Pudding.

Ben

[Allura]

Finally, something I have a recipe I can share Mine comes from my mother's friend, and I don't know where she got it. It's super simple except for the cooking time. I tend to make way too much b/c for some reason I think I *have* to make a double recipe every time....then I'm eating it forever.

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

1 1/2 qt. milk

1 cup water

1 cup rice

1 tbl. vanilla

1/2 - 3/4 C sugar

Cinnammon

Boil milk, water, and vanilla. Add rice and simmer on very low until most of the liquid has been absorbed (several hours). Stir somewhat frequently, making sure you scrape the bottom, otherwise it'll stick & burn. Add sugar at end. Sprinkle cinnammon to taste.

[rxrfrx]

Stella:

what are your thoughts on the texture of the black rice pudding? my aunt sent me some black rice from bali and i made a pudding on the stovetop in essentially the same way you just metnioned - coconut milk/cream, dark sugar, a pinch of salt - but no matter how long i cooked the stuff there was a chewy "skin" on each of the grains. it wasn't unpleasant, but i felt like it got in the way of creating a sufficiently homogenous "pudding" texture. it was more of a dish of sweet rice, less gooey than, say, risotto.

[Jaymes]

Finally, something I have a recipe I can share    Mine comes from my mother's friend, and I don't know where she got it.  It's super simple except for the cooking time.  I tend to make way too much b/c for some reason I think I *have* to make a double recipe every time....then I'm eating it forever. 

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

1 1/2 qt. milk

1 cup water

1 cup rice

1 tbl. vanilla

1/2 - 3/4 C sugar

Cinnammon

Boil milk, water, and vanilla. Add rice and simmer on very low until most of the liquid has been absorbed (several hours).  Stir somewhat frequently, making sure you scrape the bottom, otherwise it'll stick & burn.  Add sugar at end.  Sprinkle cinnammon to taste.

I'd think this might be a good one for a Crockpot/slow-cooker. It's particularly valuable for things like this that have a high sugar content and therefore a high "stickability" quotient, but require long cooking periods.

[Miss J]

I had an incredible rice pudding at Rasa, a Keralan restaurant in London. It was warm, creamy (but not overly so) basmati rice, fragrant with cardamon and crunchy with toasted almonds. Just gorgeous.

I have a copy of the Rasa book, so I'll look up the ingredients tonight. I was a revelation, though.

[oraklet]

"Danish Ris a l'amande - our Christmas dessert:

Long-grain rice cooked with1/2 vanilla pod and sugar until tender. Fold in stiffly-whipped cream and finely chopped almonds. Serve with a cherry sauce.

One whole almond is folded in and the lucky finder gets a prize. But the secret is to hide the almond under your tongue and let everyone else continue to hope it's in their serving!"

and alas, for some reason most of my fellow danes think that it should only be served at christmas time!

but for anybody trying to make this dessert, (and it's highly recommendable) please remember to let the rice cool before folding in the whipped cream. my mother in law, who is definitely not the greatest of cooks and had never made it before i appeared on the scene, never thought of the problems connected with forgetting it...

and it should not be just cherry sauce. try amarena cherries (italian, in case you shouldn't know).

[Anna N]

....

and alas, for some reason most of my fellow danes think that it should only be served at christmas time!....

We actually make it twice each year - once for Christmas and once for our annual Danish lunch - coming up on Feb 15! I have thought of making it more often but somehow I ascribe to the idea that if you have a dish often during the year, it somehow loses its "specialness" and I want something special occassionally.

[Sandra Levine]

basmati rice, fragrant with cardamon and crunchy with toasted almonds. Just gorgeous.

Sometimes, when there is leftover spiced rice from an Indian take-out dinner, if it is not too salty, I'll fold it into a a simple custard to make a dessert.

[Marlene]

Finally, something I have a recipe I can share  Mine comes from my mother's friend, and I don't know where she got it.  It's super simple except for the cooking time.  I tend to make way too much b/c for some reason I think I *have* to make a double recipe every time....then I'm eating it forever. 

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

1 1/2 qt. milk

1 cup water

1 cup rice

1 tbl. vanilla

1/2 - 3/4 C sugar

Cinnammon

Boil milk, water, and vanilla. Add rice and simmer on very low until most of the liquid has been absorbed (several hours).  Stir somewhat frequently, making sure you scrape the bottom, otherwise it'll stick & burn.  Add sugar at end.  Sprinkle cinnammon to taste.

I'd think this might be a good one for a Crockpot/slow-cooker. It's particularly valuable for things like this that have a high sugar content and therefore a high "stickability" quotient, but require long cooking periods.

That's an interesting idea Jaymes. Must try it. I'm not sure though that it would "boil down" in a slow cooker, but then I've not used my slow cooker for rice. Oh boy an experiment. And I can do this one without a kitchen!

[aidensnd2]

I prefer my rice pudding to be served warm. I was talking to a friend today and they found the idea bizarre, claiming it should always be served cold. How do you like it?

[jackal10]

Hot, crusty, with jam

Or hot with raisins in it

or cold with lemon (rizagolo) or rose water (Roz il habeeb)

[Pan]

I like it either way, as long as it's good. Though I have to say, warm pudding is very indulgent. And I, too, like raisins, and also lemon zest. Or, there's the Indian style with cardamom. That's nice, too.

[Ling]

Hot/warm with raisins...but if it's plain rice pudding, then cold.

(Don't ask me for reasons...I don't really have any! )