Sweet Rice Pudding-Arroz Doce-Portuguese Homestyle Cooking Cookbook

By amaliana

This age-old pudding goes hand in hand with Massa Sovada, a traditional sweet bread. We would eat the sweet bread topped with the rice pudding. One of my earliest memories is of my grandmother sprinkling cinnamon in the pattern of a cross onto platters of Arroz Doce for Easter. There are many variations, since this dish is on the table at every Portuguese event, but the version that follows is the one I knew growing up. Covering the chilling pudding with plastic wrap keeps the surface from drying. Bring almost to room temperature before serving.

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup short-grain rice(such as Italian arborio rice or the River Rice brand found in U.S. markets)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk, scalded
• peel of 1 lemon, without pith, in large pieces
• 1 cup sugar
• ground cinnamon for decorating

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

1. Pour the water into a 2 1/2 quart saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the rice with the salt and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer the rice for 25 to 20 minutes or until the water is nearly evaporated. Rice will be barely tender.

2. Stir in the warm milk and add the pieces of lemon peel. Stirring constantly, continue to simmer until the mixture starts to thicken slightly, about 20 to 25 more minutes.

3. When the rice is well cooked, stir in the sugar and continue cooking until the sugar is dissolved and the pudding has thickened to the consistency of oatmeal, about 5 to 10 minutes more. The rice should be very tender. Remove from the heat. It will continue to thicken as it cools.

4. Remove the pieces of lemon peel. Pour the pudding onto a large flat serving platter or individual flat plates to a thickness of not more than about 3/4 inch.

5. Taking a pinch of good ground cinnamon between thumb and forefinger, rub thumb and finger together gently close to the surface of the rice. Dust the surface of the rice in a design of your choice, perhaps forming the initials of a guest. (If fingers are held too high, cinnamon will scatter over a wider are.) Cool and serve or chill the rice to serve later.

Variation:
Beat 3 or 4 egg yolks in a small bowl. When the pudding is done but still hot, remove 1/4 cup of pudding and gradually mix into the egg yolks. (This will temper the egg yolks and prevent curdling.) Add the yolk mixture to the pudding and quickly blend in, stirring constantly for 1 minute to cook the eggs. Pour onto platters as above. This version will be thicker and tinted yellow, with a custardy texture and flavor. Some versions from the Azores are so thick they can be cut into wedges and eaten like slices of pizza.