So for anyone who hasn’t been to China, milk isn’t a really big thing here unless it’s in ‘milk tea’- a beverage often made using black tea infused with UHT milk, a shed load of sugar, and occasionally a drop or two of condensed milk if you’re lucky. Point being, milk, let alone the fresh stuff, is not so big here with the exception of tea or coffee beverages and flavoured yoghurts (it’s a miraculous discovery should you come across any of the plain, sugar-free, natural types, especially in the smaller cities such as mine).
Not that I’m complaining, with my lactose-intolerance and whatnot, in fact, it’s forced me to whip up my favourite desserts incorporating the dairy-free milk alternatives out there. Soya, coconut and peanut milks are quite easily found in most places, but others such as almond, rice and oat are not so widely available.
The soya milk tends to have a strong flavour here, well in the brands that are available to me, and so I don’t tend to use it in cooking as a main ingredient, which leaves behind just peanut and coconut at my disposal. I’m not a huge fan of peanut milk (not sure why since I love them and eat peanut butter like there’s no tomorrow) so for this recipe I opted for the coconut. I’ve learnt to love the milk of this sturdy ol’ nut-like fruit over time since my big move over from Europe to Asia- there’s never a day when I don’t have a carton in my fridge that’s how much of an uber fan I’ve become!
Now that’s my milk story out of the way, what am I making?
I really miss rice pudding- a commonly consumed pudding in England (and surprisingly never to be seen in China), and there were always 2 specific ones that stuck with me:
- Ambrosia tinned rice pudding with a heaped tablespoon of bog-standard strawberry jam
- My mum’s version, packed with nuts, dried fruit and warming spices
Nothing quite beats the above and I think it’s almost impossible to achieve that unique flavour that Ambrosia put in theirs so my recipe shares most of its features with that of my mother’s minus the nuts and dried fruit. I am however, replacing the dried fruit with fresh, tropical varieties.
In regards to the rice, rumour has it that nothing beats so-called ‘pudding rice’ (basically the short fat grains), but I think any rice will do if their surrounding cream coat is good enough since milk is the major ingredient. Irrespective of my statement, rice nevertheless, plays a crucial role in this dish so I would advise that if using basmati or long-grain, avoid cooking for too long as the rice will become a stodgy white clump and the pudding a little on the dry side.
Finally, now to make the bloody thing!...
In a saucepan, bring to the boil 1 litre of coconut milk containing 175g raw white rice, 90g sugar, 7-10 crushed cardamom pods and 2 cinnamon sticks until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to simmer for approximately 20 minutes with the lid on. When the rice is a little more than al-dente, remove the pudding from the heat and the lid off the pan.
Chop up a whole heap of fresh fruits, such as mango, melon, pineapple, lychees and dragon fruit and layer them with the warm (not hot) rice pudding in your vessel of choice. Puree the dragon fruit and spoon on top of the pudding, followed by some passion fruit to give the pudding a tart introduction to your mouth.