Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Not So Nice with Rice

Today is my birthday - a special day I share with National Chocolate Pudding Day.  And over the past few years, I've attempted to make a pudding in celebration, even though pudding is not my cup of tea (or I should say, cup of "chocolate").  I decided to continue the tradition again this year, but this year, my pudding experiment with rice didn't turn out so nice.

After the yummy success last year with the Vegan Peanut Butter Pudding, I thought about repeating and enjoying it again.  However, the annual pudding experiment is all about trying something new and so I decided to give chocolate rice pudding a try this year.

I downloaded a recipe from Chocoblog a few years ago which looked and sounded yum (see picture above).  It could also be easily "veganized" by substituting soy milk for cow milk and so rice pudding here we come.

I have to admit I've never made rice pudding before, let alone a chocolate vegan version, so this would all be a grand experiment, even though my experiments with chocolate baking tend to not always be very successful. 

After washing 1/3 cup rice, I whisked together 1/4 cup soy milk with 1/4 cup cocoa powder (organic and free trade - my new standard for chocolate) to form a paste.  I then added the remaining 3 cups of soy milk and 1/4 cup sugar.  3 1/4 cup milk seemed like a lot of milk for 1/3 cup of rice, but that is the recipe and so I followed it.

I added the milk mixture to the rice in a pot and attempted to bring it to a boil on medium heat.  Easy enough instructions, but this is where the problem starts.  The problem: in 2 words - "My stove". 

I shouldn't really say "my stove" for it is the camp's stove in my camp-provided housing.  It is unfortunately the stove I need to use.  The problem is the burner.  There is simply no control over the heat.  In spite turning the nob to "low," it's either on or off.  There's no such thing as "medium", let alone simmer.

I forgot about this when I decided this grand chocolate rice pudding experiment.  I was able to bring the pot to a boil.  Covered it and then turned the heat down.

Now, if I had a normal stove, I am sure that after simmering on low for 35 minutes covered, stirring every 5 minutes, I could then uncover it and cook it for another 10 minutes and have a beautiful chocolate rice pudding.

However, given my stove, I needed to stir continuously, and when left covered on "low", the pot began to over boil creating a big chocolate mess all over the stove.  (May be that's why 3 1/4 cups of milk is needed!)  I left the pot uncovered, continued to stir often, and after 45 minutes, simply decided to give up.  The liquid was reducing down way too much and beginning to burn, and the rice still had not cooked through.

While it looked okay in a bowl, the rice was chewy.  Though the chocolate flavor had developed, not too sweet and not burnt, the pudding itself was thick and a bit studgy.  Decent in taste, but not very pleasant in texture.  If my stove worked properly, chances are good this would have been good.  May be I should try it in my rice cooker next time.  There's a thought.

Over the coming days, I'll probably try adding some nut milk to this chocolate rice pudding, microwaving it to warm it up and cook the rice, and drink it like a hot chocolate - a hot chocolate horchata.

Luckily, my vegan chocolate chip bread turned out well today.  (I still need to post that recipe.)  It was a not a total kitchen disaster on this birthday, on this National Chocolate Pudding Day. 

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