This is not a quick and easy recipe nor is it a meal. It's a typical Puerto Rican dessert that my MIL makes over the holidays. This year, I had a terrible cold that led to laryngitis and then a sinus infection meaning I couldn't taste or smell anything the entire holidays. Getting back home, I dug out my handy "Puerto Rican Cookery" cookbook and got to work. It came out awesome, if I do say so myself and when I posted it on facebook, I had multiple requests for a recipe so I thought I'd post it here.
Puerto Rican Rice Pudding (Arroz Dulce or Arroz con Coco)
1 cup medium grain rice
1 can coconut milk (shake can thoroughly and then set aside 3/4 cups)
3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
2 cinnamon sticks
pinch of ground cloves -
optional
pinch of nutmeg -
optional
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 - 1 cup raisins (as much or as little as you like)
1. Rinse rice and soak in water to cover for 2 hours.
2. 20 minutes before rice is ready, combine remaining coconut milk, water, salt, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg and ground cloves in a heavy pot. Bring to a boil over high hear. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Drain rice thoroughly and add to the pot. Mix and bring to a boil over medium heat (I took it to mean bubbling). Reduce heat to low and cook until rice is completely dry. Do NOT stir. This took about 30 minutes for me.
4. Add sugar and raisins, mix and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Do NOT stir.
5. Add reserved 3/4 cup coconut milk and mix. Turn heat to medium and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until rice dries again. Turn rice over occasionally and scrape bottom of pan.
6. Remove cinnamon sticks. Spoon rice onto a flat serving platter. Allow to cool at room temperature before refrigerating.
7. Enjoy!!!
