Coconut Rice Pudding

My mom loves rice pudding. I used to hate it. It always reminded me of what would be, I’d imagine, the texture of baby food. Creamy and smooth like a pudding, yet slightly chunky. I think it was the ‘chunks’ that threw me. Regular pudding, bread pudding, Yorkshire pudding – you name any other type of pudding, and I love it. It was just something about the texture of rice pudding that I couldn’t get past. I especially did not like the pre-packaged rice puddings, there always seemed to be an artificial aftertaste. While I still don’t love the pre-packaged containers of rice pudding, I must admit that I am now an avid lover of the homemade version. I prefer to eat mine warm, as it reminds me a little bit of kao thom or congee that we had in Thailand. Both are types of rice porridges but, more often than not, are savory instead of sweet.

I love the plain vanilla rice pudding, with a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg on top. This one spices up the classic by adding coconut milk to the mixture, making it super creamy and coconutty. It was pure bliss. Not exactly light on the waistline, though – which was a problem because the hubby does not eat coconut, meaning I had free reign over the rice pudding. A spoonful here, a spoonful there, and within a day, half of the bowl was gone.

Oops. I know why we have a treadmill now.

I enjoyed this a lot and will definitely make it again once it gets colder out. I can picture snuggling up in a blanket with a warm bowl of coconut rice pudding and just reminiscing about warmer times.

Coconut Rice Pudding
Adapted From Coconut and Lime

Ingredients:
1/3 cup white basmati rice
14 oz can coconut milk (not cream of coconut)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a small bowl soak rice in about 2/3 cup of cold water for 30 minutes. Drain rice. In a medium sized saucepan bring coconut milk, milk, rice, sugar, and salt to a boil, Reduce heat to low and simmer, for about 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should have cooked down to a thick, creamy texture. Delicious warm or chilled