Creamy Coconut Rice Pudding
Why I Love This Recipe
I was craving rice pudding to de-stress between papers, and I had some coconut milk that was just begging to be used in it. I failed to find a satisfactory recipe anywhere - I want one that used raw rice you cooked in milk and coconut milk to make the pudding, and nothing seemed to fit the bill. So, I improvised, and was delighted to end up with some of the creamiest, richest, most delicious rice pudding I'd ever tried. It was serious business - we all wanted seconds, but ended up physically incapable of consuming more after one bowl. The mantra here? Apply sparingly as needed (or liberally in times of dire need).
Ingredients You'll Need
1 can coconut milk
About 2 C whole milk – you should have 4 C liquid between the milk and the coconut milk
2/3 uncooked short grain white rice
A generous 1/4 C sugar
2 T unsalted butter
1 cinnamon stick
½ vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 1 t vanilla extract, added at the end)
pinch of salt
¾ C milk
2 large egg yolks
Directions
Combine first 8 ingredients in large heavy saucepan.
Simmer over medium-low heat until rice is tender and mixture is scrumptiously creamy, stirring very frequently – about 1 hour.
Remove from heat and discard cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean.
During the last fifteen minutes of cooking, pour remaining ¾ C milk into heavy small saucepan and bring to simmer.
Whisk egg yolks in medium bowl to blend.
Gradually whisk hot milk into beaten yolks, then return to saucepan.
Stir over medium heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees F, about 2 minutes (don’t boil!).
Stir egg mixture into rice mixture. Pudding will thicken more as it cools.
Transfer pudding to a non-metal bowl.
Cover and chill if you’re into that sort of thing; otherwise, eat it while deliciously warm and possibly mixed with nutmeg, rum-soaked raisins, or anything else that catches your fancy
