One of my earliest food memories is of a warm bowl of spicy arroz con leche, creamy Mexican rice pudding studded with cinnamon sticks. It makes a great and comforting breakfast on a cold winter morning, but I have equally as fond memories of it cool and sweet as an afternoon snack on the back porch.
Rice pudding is a nearly universal comfort food prepared in a wide range of cuisines and with many varying flavors from sweet and spicy like arroz con leche to salty and savory like the Chinese congee. It is simple, hearty, and economical, making it great food for hunkering down and getting cozy.
It is rumored that the last meal the Buddha had before reaching enlightenment was a big bowl of rice pudding.
The process of making arroz con leche is very simple. It’s typically made with long grain white rice, but much like horchata, you can prepare it with short grain or brown rice with mostly comparable results (texture being the biggest variant, and even so, nothing an adjusted cook time couldn’t even out.)
To begin, soak one part rice in two parts water (so two cups of water for one cup of rice.) Add anywhere from one to four cinnamon sticks, depending on potency. If you’re using “true” cinnamon, which should be kind of multi-layered, flaky, and easy to break, you won’t need as much. The tightly rolled-up, hard sticks sold in the United States as cinnamon are actually Chinese cassia bark—although in the cinnamon family, they won’t lend as much flavor.
Then, cook the rice and water as usual—bring to a boil, then simmer, covered until mostly evaporated. Stir in three to four parts milk, about one part sugar, and a splash of vanilla. You can optionally add raisins, cloves, an egg, a can of sweetened condensed milk, a tablespoon of lemon zest, a pinch of salt, some butter—the variations are endless. Continue cooking the mixture down on low heat until thickened—it will thicken further as it cools.
Arroz con leche makes a great oatmeal alternative, after-school snack, or dessert. For best flavor, consider cooking in a clay pot.
The post Arroz Con Leche: Mexican Rice Pudding appeared first on Whisked Foodie.
