Arroz con Dulce

Ingredients

• Rice

  Long Grain, Enriched - H-E-B

  2 cup uncooked or 352g

• Water

  Plain, clean water

  5 cup or 1.18kg

• Coconut milk

  Nuts, raw (liquid expressed from grated meat and water)

  5 cup or 1.2kg

• Cinnamon

  Spices, ground

  300g

• Cardamom

  Spices

  500g

• Star Anise

  Morton & Bassett Spices

  1 tsp or 3g

• Allspice

  Spices, ground

  ¼ tsp or 0.5g

• Cloves

  Spices, ground

  ½ tsp or 1g

• Brown sugar

  1 cup packed or 220g

• Cinnamon

  Spices, ground

  2 tsp or 5g

• Ginger

  Spices, ground

  1 tsp or 2g

• Nutmeg

  Spices, ground

  ¾ tsp or 2g

• Salt

  Table

  0.001 cup or 0.4g

• Vanilla extract

  1 tbsp or 13g

• Raisins

  Seedless

  ¾ cup (not packed) or 109g

• Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

  Safeway

  40g

• Lime juice

  Raw

  50g

• Coconut milk

  Nuts, raw (liquid expressed from grated meat and water)

  ½ cup or 120g

Directions

1. Soak the Rice (up to 12 hours ahead)
2. Rinse the rice in a colander under cold running water. Transfer the rinsed rice to a large mixing bowl and cover it with at 5 cups of cold water.
3. Allow the rice to soak for 2-12 hours. Eight hours (or overnight) is recommended. When you're ready to cook the arroz con dulce: scoop out 1 1/2 cups of the soaking water and set it aside. This will be used in the simmer liquid and to thin the rice as needed.Drain the rest of the water from the rice and set the rice aside.
4. Infuse the Coconut Milk with the Spices
5. Pour the coconut milk and 1 cup of the reserved rice water into a 4-quart dutch oven or caldero. Add the cinnamon sticks to the liquid in the pot. Fill a tea strainer or a piece of cheesecloth with the cardamom, star anise, allspice, and cloves then attach it to the side of your pot with a piece of butcher's twine or its chain.
6. Bring this mixture up to a gentle boil over medium heat. Once the coconut milk starts to boil, turn the stove off and allow the spices to steep in the liquid for 20 minutes to infuse the coconut milk with the flavor of the spices.
7. Gently Cook the Arroz con Dulce
8. After 20 minutes, remove the spice sachet from the pot and discard the spices. Turn the stove back up to medium heat. Stir the drained rice into the pot of coconut milk with a wooden spoon.
9. Allow the coconut milk to come to a gentle simmer, stirring after 5 minutes. Once the milk forms small bubbles that barely break the surface, reduce the heat to low. Give the rice another thorough stir.
10. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Stir the rice every 5 minutes to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot and scorching. It's essential to keep the coconut milk from simmering or boiling. The surface of the milk should steam, but there should be no bubbles breaking the surface.
11. After 20 minutes of gentle cooking, the rice will begin to peek through the surface of the milk when you stir it and sound like the gentle rustling of a newspaper*. Stir the sugar, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, salt, and vanilla extract into the pot. Continue cooking the mixture on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you find that the mixture is thickening a bit too much, thin it with more coconut milk or the reserved rice water- just a 1/2 cup at a time.
12. Next, stir in the raisins and toasted coconut flakes. Continue cooking the rice pudding on low heat for an additional 10 minutes. Stirring every 5 minutes or so.
13. Finish the Arroz con Dulce
14. Once the cooking time has elapsed, turn the stove off. Squeeze the juice of half a lime into the arroz con dulce. After adding the lime juice, taste it and adjust any spices.
15. If you want to serve the arroz con dulce traditionally: refrigerate the arroz con dulce for 4-6 hours until thoroughly chilled. Slice (or spoon) and serve! If you prefer a very thick, cakelike arroz con dulce: spoon the warm rice pudding into a buttered cake pan (8"x8"). Use the back of your spoon to compact the rice in the pan, then cover the dish with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until completely chilled, then cut and serve.If you like a creamier rice pudding: allow the rice pudding to cool completely. Once cool, stir in the heavy cream, or, if you want to keep it vegan, more coconut milk.
16. Arroz con dulce is served cold, but you can serve it warm or hot straight from the pot. Sprinkle more ground cinnamon over your servings of arroz con dulce, or top with more raisins, toasted coconut, or whipped cream.
17. Recipe by: Marta Rivera (source: https://senseandedibility.com/arroz-con-dulce/)