With this rice pudding in hand — made simply in the slow cooker and served with fresh fruit — you may need never try another recipe of its kind. I can’t imagine anything creamier, or more subtly flavored. Sushi rice is the surprise ingredient here; it softens and thickens in a rich blanket of cream and coconut milk.
Lush Rice Pudding
8 to 12 servings.
You’ll need a 5½-quart slow cooker; the pudding also can be cooked in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 2 hours).
1 cup sushi rice
4 cups heavy cream
2 cups coconut milk, preferably Aroy-D brand
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 stalk lemon grass, gently smashed
2 tablespoons ginger syrup, such as Ginger People brand
¼ cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped, for serving
1½ cups sliced fresh peaches, for serving
1½ cups blackberries, for serving
Place the rice in a fine-mesh strainer; rinse it until the water runs clear. Transfer to a slow cooker.
Add the heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar, sea salt, lemon grass and 1 tablespoon of the ginger syrup. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour.
Reduce the heat to low; stir in the remaining tablespoon of ginger syrup. Cover and cook for 45 minutes. Discard the lemon grass. The rice pudding will be soupy; transfer to a heatproof container, cool and refrigerate until well chilled and set.
Let the rice pudding sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. During that time, toss together the crystallized ginger and sliced peaches in a bowl; let them macerate, stirring a few times. Cut some of the larger blackberries in half.
When ready to serve, spoon several tablespoons of the rice pudding into individual cups. Create a fruit layer with either the gingery peaches or the blackberries in each one, reserving a little of each fruit for garnish. Top up the cups with the remaining rice pudding, and garnish appropriately.
