Hi, foodies in the Hive!
I hope you had a comforting Easter with your family and loved ones π
Easter in Venezuela has a lot to do with getting together as a family and eat delicious homemade dishes. Besides the spiritual and religious meaning of Easter, there is an irrefutable fact that there are vacations and many people want to spend time with their loved ones; if they're lucky, those loved ones will be family.
It's a tradition in my family that we gather at my father's house and we all bring homemade food, fruit, and drinks to share all day long. Some beverages contain alcohol, but we are not big drinkers. More than anything, we enjoy being together and the food! So last Sunday, I made one of their favorite sweet dishes: sweet coconut rice pudding, another one of those Venezuelan dishes that are "vegan by accident".
I prepared ths dessert as a special attention to my eldest sister, who has come from the neighboring state to stay with us for three days: arroz con coco ("sweet coconut rice pudding," or "rice & coconut sweet pudding")--literally, rice with coconut. She loves it.
This is a rice and coconut dessert/snack that we traditionally make at home on special occasions, Easter time being perhaps the most emblematic.
In the east, where I'm from, we add cane honey, cloves, and cinnamon. But it's also common to add Jamaican pepper; this is actually my case, plus I add a little vanilla essence, so anyone can tell when I've made the pudding although they don't know why--they'd know if they read this post π
We eat this pudding hot the day it's prepared and then cold from the fridge the next day. Some will prefer it one way or the other. My sweet tooth and I love it both ways!
Now, we don't need to make it at home; we may enjoy it all year round, as it's an extremely popular snack throughout the country. Here on the coast, you'll easily find a street vendor walking along the shore, offering this sweet treat in disposable cups of 5 to 10 ounces approx. at very economical prices. But hey, I love it homemade.
- 2 medium coconuts + 6 cups of hot water for:
- 2 cups of coconut milk approx.
- 5 cups of a "second blend" of coconut milk approx.
- 2 cups of uncooked white rice
- 1 liter of cane honey (750 gr + water)
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- Spices to taste: cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, Jamaican pepper, whole cloves, and a teaspoon of vanilla essence as a personal twist
To make the coconut milk, find the soft spot and pierce it to drain the water, which is very tasty; you can drink it right away! π
Break the coconuts and remove the white pulp. This is very easy to do if you put the coconuts directly on the stove top and cook them there until the shells crack. Turn them every couple of minutes. In general, they are ready in less than 5 minutes.
You'll hear them crackle.
Then you'll let them cool down and you'll be able to break them and take out the pulp easily.
Peel the pieces of pulp until they are completely white. This thin brown layer (endocarp) is very tasty and has some of the coconut pulp, so don't throw them away: you can eat them as they are, while preparing this delicious dessert, or you can keep them in the fridge until you find a use for them; I, for example, use them to flavor and enrich some vegetable spreads.
Then cut the pulp into small pieces so that your blender doesn't work too hard and add 1 cup of hot water. Blend well. Strain to obtain the milk.
After having this first milk, you'll make a second one with the bagasse and the rest of the hot water.
Strain this second milk and use it to cook the rice. And you can still find uses for this bagasse (e.g.).
Add the spices and salt.
Let the rice cook well over medium-low heat. I let it cook for 15 minutes approx.
Melt the 750 g cane honey bar in 2 cups of water and add it to the cooking, along with the coconut milk.
I like to add the vanilla essence at this point. It's not in the original recipe.
I also like to sprinkle cinnamon directly in the pot, to make the rice even more aromatic. Then I stir it before serving and add more cinnamon if I wish.
Let the mixture cook for 4-5 minutes over very low heat. Stir from time to time, to make it as creamy as you like. Then remove the pot from the heat and let the rice cool down while it absorbs the liquid. If it's too dry, you can add boiled water or more coconut milk. You do not need to return it to the heat.
You can adjust the texture of the pudding at this point to make it the way you like it. You can also add more salt if you wish. You don't need to freak out if it's too dry or lacks some salt or sweet; just fix it before letting it cool completely. Below you can see how we like it at home:
Decorate with ground cinnamon and coconut.
Eat it while it's still hot, or when it has turned cold in the fridge.