Arroz con Dulce: Puerto Rican Rice Pudding

I remember reading somewhere a few years ago that arroz con dulce was a remnant of the time the Moors controlled the Iberian peninsula. Certainly, to this day most Arabic countries have a similar candied rice pudding dish.

Almost every continent has several versions, depending on regional ingredients, climates, ethnic divisions, etc.

Wikipedia breaks it down to the more common ingredients:

• Rice – white rice usually short grain, but can also be long grain, basmati, or jasmine rice; brown rice; black rice
• Milk – whole milk, coconut milk, cream or evaporated
• Spices – nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, etc.
• Flavorings – vanilla, orange, lemon, pistachio, rose water, etc.
• Sweetener – sugar, brown sugar, honey, sweetened condensed milk, fruit or syrups.

Spaniards refer to it as arroz con leche (rice with milk). The Portuguese call it arroz doce (literally sweet rice). Across in the Americas, Puerto Ricans call it arroz con dulce. Arroz con leche can be found in the cuisines of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Venezuela among others.

These are not all the same; there are variations – such as the fact that some are cooked with cloves, for instance. In Peru, they add shredded coconut. Some recipes also call for star anise.

http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/images/Puerto_Rican_Style_Rice_Pudding.jpg

Arroz con Dulce

4 cups of water

1 teaspoon salt

2 to 3 cinnamon sticks

6 whole cloves

1 piece of ginger (about 1 inch, peeled and sliced)

1 14-ounce can of coconut milk

1 cup of medium or short grain rice

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup white cane sugar 

Rum (optional)

Soak the rice in water for at least a couple of hours (you can leave overnight). The grains will absorb some of the liquid and lose some of the starch. Drain water before cooking.

Soak the raisins in hot water mixed with rum to plump and saturate in liquor.

In a large saucepan or pot, bring 3 cups of water to a simmer. Add the salt, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and ginger. Simmer for about 15 minutes to infused flavors into the water. Remove from heat and take out spices.

Add the coconut milk and 1 cup of water, stir, and return to a high flame. Bring to a boil.

Add sugar, rice and raisins, and stir thoroughly. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Stir a few times to make sure rice is not sticking and/or burning.

After 20 minutes, remove the lid and stir. Continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the rice is cooked through and creamy. The water should be absorbed.

If the water is absorbed, but the rice is still not cooked, add a little hot water (about 1/4 cup) at a time and continue to cook until done. This step depends on altitude, though if you soak rice it’s likely to be unnecessary.

When the rice is cooked, pour into your serving dish or dishes. Allow to cool and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Garnish with ground cinnamon before serving.

Notes: you may substitute brown sugar or if you prefer a more subtle sweetness, honey or maple syrup. If you like a slightly spicier taste, add star anise to infuse your cooking liquid.

There are many recipes, some simpler than others, and a few You Tube videos. I recommend watching the videos to give you an idea of the consistency you're looking for during and at the end of cooking. This recipe is a guide to get you started on the most satisfying dessert that combines comfort food into the mix. 

For recipes, how-to videos, and more information about Puerto Rican holiday foods, go to the Pinterest board:

Rice Pudding with a Latin Flare

I have a distinct memory of being in my great grandmother’s kitchen. The walls were painted baby blue and it was a tiny room. And it was warm, the faint aroma of vanilla and ginger, coconut and cinnamon...

Photo credit: from http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/143186/mateo-family-puerto-rican-sweet-rice-pudding/  

It was fall. It had to be close to Halloween because I remember my Mom’s godfather bringing me a Casper the Friendly Ghost mask to play with. The guy who owned the candy store on the block took me trick or treating around the building (it may have been just his apartment and his wife gave me candy), and then playing with a giant bunny in their living room.

I was around two, just shy of three years old, and I’d flown first class for the first and only time in my life.

One of Mom’s cousins was visiting. He was about 17, I think; but his emotional and intellectual age was closer to mine, certainly no higher than six. He was a sweetheart, at least with me; and he always behaved with Abuelita (which is what we both called his grandmother).

An indulgent grandma, she asked if we wanted anything and both screamed out, “¡Arroz con dulce!”

So Abuelita took out her big cast iron caldero, the rice, raisins, vanilla, and assorted ingredients we did not know the name to, and the big spoon. We sat at the tiny kitchen table intently watching her stir. Occasionally she looked back at us, and she’d chuckle and talk sweetly to us.

After endless cooking (we couldn’t tell time then, so anything that made us wait in torture was "forever!"), she poured the candied rice in the glass dish and placed it on the counter. 

She instructed us to retire to the living room where all the grown-ups were.

“We can’t eat that until it cools down,” she told us.

Frankie and I looked at each other and did the only sensible thing. We competed for her affections but time was our enemy, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We understood this instinctively. So we paired off. He helped me up on the counter and stood opposite me.

It took a bit for the adults to realize we were among the missing and awfully quiet – a sign of serious trouble where I was involved. Abuelita found us in the kitchen (yes we heard them calling our names, but we were busy!).

“What are you doing?!!” she demanded.

Frankie was not used to her yelling at him and he clammed up. I took the lead, “You said we couldn’t eat it until it cooled off. We’re helping, Abuelita!”

We were blowing on it to cool it off.

When the weather starts to turn coolish and we approach the holidays I always think of this moment because I loved my great grandmother dearly and still miss her, but also because hers was the best arroz con dulce in the universe. I have only matched it once and it was a fluke.

Arroz con dulce is a Puerto Rican delicacy but other Caribbean and Latin American countries have their own version of it. Generally, it is made around the Christmas holidays. Simply it is candied ginger and coconut rice, with raisins and cinnamon. It's rice pudding with a Latin flare (buy some rum if you haven't any, I'm going to teach you a sweet kitchen trick)!

Tomorrow I will bring you a few different recipes, an international perspective on the culinary idea so you can check out the different versions, and hopefully the desire to make some for yourselves.