Coconut Milk Rice Pudding

Beloved Readers,

I received a request for my rice pudding recipe, and here it is! I was planning to start sharing recipes before the pandemic took hold, and then I worried that ingredients may not be available. We still must eat, so here is my attempt to make the requested recipe as flexible as possible.

This recipe has reduced sugar and fat yet is so satisfying that it can serve as breakfast or dessert. Extra sugar can always be added to individual portions later. By reducing sugar consumption gradually and steadily, what now seems hardly sweet at all will soon seem overly sweet. The less sugar one eats, the less sugar one craves. To prepare smaller amounts, the recipe can easily be divided into thirds.

Ingredients (makes about 16 1-cup servings):

1. 40½ ounces of organic coconut milk
   • I use 3 cans of coconut milk (13.5 fluid ounces (398 ml) each) containing only organic coconut and filtered water, nothing else, e.g., no guar. Other milks should work, too. I do not use almond milk because it usually has too many ingredients that even a chemist cannot recognize, and almonds are expensive if you want to make the milk yourself. I am staying away from dairy, especially since it can enhance mucous production, which could make a COVID-19 infection worse.
2. 40½ ounces of filtered water
3. 1½ cup organic rice
   • I have not tried quinoa yet, but I am planning to.
4. 1½ cup dried, fresh, or frozen organic fruit (e.g., dried cherries or cranberries, or frozen raspberries or cranberries)
   • Fruit is optional and could be left out altogether or used fresh as a topping or on the side. More or less fruit can be used, to your liking. Raisins, currants, chopped apricots, chopped mangoes, or chopped prunes are more options.
5. 3-5 organic, free-range eggs
   • You can add as many as 6 eggs. As eggs have become scarcer, I have been adding fewer eggs and have used 3 extra large eggs with excellent results.
6. ½ cup organic dark brown sugar (or other sweetener such as molasses or maple syrup; if using honey, stir in at the end to avoid heat-inactivation or use as a topping)
7. 1-3 teaspoons organic cinnamon
8. 1-3 teaspoons organic vanilla bean extract in alcohol

Preparation:

• If using dry fruit, soak in filtered water (or liquor)
  • I put dry cranberries in a glass 2 cup measuring cup with just enough water to cover the berries and stir and let soak.
• Add the sugar to a cooking pot.
  • I use a pressure cooker with a stainless-steel pot, but a saucepan could also be used on a stove top.
• Add the coconut milk and filtered water to the cooking pot.
• Heat the liquid mixture while stirring until the sugar and coconut milk dissolve completely.
  • I use the “sauté” setting of the pressure cooker.
• Add the rice and stir to mix.
  • If using frozen cranberries, I add them and cook them with the rice, but they can be added later (see below).
• Cook the mixture until the rice is done.
  • I use the “rice” setting on the pressure cooker for 10 minutes on high.
• Once the rice is cooked (and the cooker is vented if using pressure cooker), then beat the eggs with a little filtered water until smooth.
  • I use a fork to beat the eggs in a glass 4 cup measuring cup.
• Stir the rice mixture and add a little filtered water if the consistency is too thick.
• Add warm rice mixture to the beaten eggs and stir well (to prevent the eggs from scrambling).
• Then stir the egg mixture into the pudding.
• Heat until bubbly and the eggs are cooked through.
• Remove the pot from heat onto a potholder.
• Stir in cinnamon and vanilla extract (optional, if available).
• If using dry fruit, strain the soak water and add the soaked berries to the pudding and stir well. If using frozen fruit, e.g., frozen raspberries, they can be added and stirred into the warm pudding.
• Aliquot the pudding into bowls and cover with lids to prevent a skin from forming on the surface. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.
  • I use 2 cup glass Pyrex bowls with lids.

Chill for a least 15 minutes before serving so it is not too hot. Enjoy some pudding while it is warm! I like to heat cold pudding in the microwave a little before enjoying.

Bon appétit!

Lots of Love, Marie