A necessity

I’ve mentioned the time I spent at Trinity College here before. It was a good year, and brought me many things - more likeminded people in a year than in the rest of my life put together, some confidence (if only temporary) and most lastingly, rice pudding.



My pudding making developed out of necessity, which is as I hear, the mother of invention. My student-housing-mates and I were on meal plans where dessert featured only occasionally and the food, despite the best efforts of the kindly lunch ladies (they had a budget to stick to) was not very good.

Out of necessity, that is, if you as I do, consider dessert a necessity, a bunch of us would ferret way some plain steamed rice from the dinner spread and port it over to my friend, A’s little abode across the street. A was especially sensitive to noise and had decided early in the year that a house full of seventeen-year-olds was just not for her. She made a request to move and when a space opened up, carted her stuff across the road.

Most nights, we’d converge upon her kitchen and make dessert. In A’s little kitchenette, I must have stirred up more than a dozen pots of rice pudding. Sometimes I’d caramelise fruit, make Blanc mange or bread pudding but mostly we ate rice pudding.

Our group got creative with flavours. Sometimes we’d add a dollop of jam we’d snuck away at breakfast and occasionally we’d sprinkle over dried fruit and nuts. Once we even mixed in Milo powder, but by far our favourite addition was a gob of sweet salty peanut butter. When the pudding was ready, we’d settle down in front of the TV, plant a big bowlful smack in the middle of the coffee table and dip our spoons in the communal bowl till there was none left. Hygiene be damned, we’d fight to the last bite.

Now, I know that many people have only lukewarm feelings towards rice pudding. In fact, I once suggested adding rice pudding to the buffet at a restaurant I did a very short stint at and got a wrinkled nose and rhetorical “who like rice pudding?” in response. I completely understand. Buffets are all about what has mass appeal and if no one will touch it, it will go to waste.

But at home, you have only yourself, or maybe a few other palates to please. You can afford to be more adventurous and I would really encourage that if only for this pudding. It’s hardly any work and if you have leftover rice handy, (which if you eat a lot of Asian food, is almost a given), it actually helps use up leftovers and prevent waste!

Seriously, it comes together in just a few minutes, which is as I learnt, quickly enough to prevent even a bunch of teens from becoming restless, so there’s really nothing to lose.

Peanut Butter Rice Pudding
Adapted from Tyler Florence’s recipe for Rockin Rice Pudding

An extra sprinkling of crunch-giving peanuts would not be amiss here but if you don’t have any I wouldn’t worry. This is the sort of thing you want to be able to make with whatever is on hand whenever necessary.

3 cups white rice, cooked
3 cups milk or cream or even coconut milk (for a dairy-free version)
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 - 1 cup smooth peanut butter

Combine cooked rice, milk, sugar and butter in a medium saucepan. Add peanut butter. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Spoon pudding into a serving dish and serve.

Serves 4 to 6

Variations: If you want to eat this pudding cold, I would suggest that you fold some whipped cream or even vanilla yogurt through the chilled pudding. Otherwise, it tends to be a little stodgy.

Or if you have leftover pudding, you could make peanut butter rice pudding tartlets. Mix a few eggs into your leftover pudding (about 1 egg per serving of rice pudding). Pour the mixture into pastry lined tartlet tins. Bake about 15 minutes at 180C/350C. Leave tartlets to cool. Whip together some peanut butter, butter and honey (adjust quantities to your own taste). Use to frost the tartlets. Chill and serve.