In this weekly culinary column, I will be focusing on one dish – giving the reader a quick history of the dish, the classical
preparation of it, and of course, my own spin on the classic.
This week I have chosen to cover rice pudding – a dish that very simply consists mainly of rice and a cooking liquid of choice. Rice pudding recipes stretch across the globe, and variations on the dish can vary from nation to nation – even as far as between bordering regions in any given country. Due to this, and my own cultural background, I will be giving you a traditional Portuguese version of this recipe.
Traditional Portuguese Rice Pudding
½ cupShort grain rice
3 ½ cupWhole milk
2 sticksCinnamon
½ tspSalt
¼ cupBrown sugar
1 tbspUnsalted butter
½ tspGround cinnamon
zest of 2Lemons
Wash and drain the rice, then place into a large sauce pot with enough water to cover completely. Turn on the heat and stir the rice, bringing it to a boil – allowing to continue boiling for 5 minutes before draining the rice into a colander. Wash the rice with warm water in the colander and drain. While rice is cooking, place the milk, cinnamon sticks and lemon zest into a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Allow the milk to come to a simmer before removing from the heat. Place the rice into a medium sauce pot over medium heat and ladle in 1/3rd of the milk at a time until the milk is fully incorporated. Repeat this process until all of the milk has been absorbed by the rice. While adding the last 3rd of the milk to the rice, add the brown sugar and butter. Remove the rice from heat and allow to chill before serving.
Jonathan’s Rice Pudding
½ cupArborio rice
1 ½ cupWhole milk
1 ½ cupCoconut milk
½ tspSea salt
3 ozHoney
1Vanilla bean (split and seeded)
1 tbspUnsalted butter
zest of 2Blood oranges
½ cupHeavy cream
Place the whole milk, coconut milk, sea salt and vanilla bean into a medium sauce pot over medium heat and allow to come to a simmer before removing from the heat. In a separate medium sauce pot over medium heat, place the butter and allow to melt – once the butter has melted, add the rice and zest and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes. Ladle in 1/3rd of the milk mixture at a time, until the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Repeat this process until all of the liquid is fully incorporated. While ladling in the last 3rd of the milk, add the honey. Remove from the heat and chill. While the rice is chilling, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Once soft peaks are achieved, fold the whipped cream into the rice. Once the whipped cream is properly incorporated, serve immediately for the best texture.