Rice pudding

[ardcarp]

We found an out-of-date carton of long-life milk on our shelves. It smelled and tasted OK, so we decided to make a rice pudding with it. Just a bog-standard recipe (i.e. short-grain rice, milk, a knob of butter and a trace of nutmeg). Slow-cooked for 2 hours. OMG how these ordinary puds...like B&B pud...are just fantastic. And the skin on a rice pudding...real Ambrosia!

[oddoneout]

I got a small slow-cooker earlier this year and rice pud was something I wanted to try in it when the shopping constraints started to hit, and I wanted comfort food. Trouble was the lack of pudding rice to buy; evidently people don'y make it from scratch anymore - there were ranks of tinned. It's possible Tesco might have it but that's beyond walking distance and various friends have said there always seem to be queues. I improvised and used risotto rice in the end which made a rice pudding, not altogether satisfactory in terms of texture but it tasted OK and as an experiment to find out if dried milk(I had a pack to use up) would substitute for fresh it worked. Some homegrown rhubarb and a spoonful of jelly(another store-cupboard item that needed to using up!) perked it up - and looked rather pretty. The slow cooker doesn't make a skin of course but I was never a big fan and as the quantities mean that two portions have to go in the fridge it's probably better without - brown bits mixed in the white pud don't have the same appeal as being layer on the top.

[Bryn]

I got a small slow-cooker earlier this year and rice pud was something I wanted to try in it when the shopping constraints started to hit, and I wanted comfort food. Trouble was the lack of pudding rice to buy; evidently people don'y make it from scratch anymore - there were ranks of tinned. It's possible Tesco might have it but that's beyond walking distance and various friends have said there always seem to be queues. I improvised and used risotto rice in the end which made a rice pudding, not altogether satisfactory in terms of texture but it tasted OK and as an experiment to find out if dried milk(I had a pack to use up) would substitute for fresh it worked. Some homegrown rhubarb and a spoonful of jelly(another store-cupboard item that needed to using up!) perked it up - and looked rather pretty. The slow cooker doesn't make a skin of course but I was never a big fan and as the quantities mean that two portions have to go in the fridge it's probably better without - brown bits mixed in the white pud don't have the same appeal as being layer on the top.

"Pudding rice", basically short-grain rice, used to be somewhat cheaper than long-grain rice. That situation no longer obtains. Short-grain rice now tends to cost considerably more than long-grain.

[oddoneout]

"Pudding rice", basically short-grain rice, used to be somewhat cheaper than long-grain rice. That situation no longer obtains. Short-grain rice now tends to cost considerably more than long-grain.

"No demand" so price obviously goes up! The cost is irrelevant to me as a bag will keep me going for such a long time - and take up less space in the cupboard and the bin - one plastic bag eventually cf numerous tins for the recycling.

[Dave2002]

The slow cooker doesn't make a skin of course but I was never a big fan and as the quantities mean that two portions have to go in the fridge it's probably better without - brown bits mixed in the white pud don't have the same appeal as being layer on the top.

The brown bits and the skin add flavour - arguably the best bits. Scraping out the dish afterwards - great. Those anaemic puddings - from tins or done to avoid skin - really not my bag.

Also eating such puddings cold - no, no, no. Only under extreme circumstances - maybe sometimes.

[Pulcinella]

"No demand" so price obviously goes up! The cost is irrelevant to me as a bag will keep me going for such a long time - and take up less space in the cupboard and the bin - one plastic bag eventually cf numerous tins for the recycling.

Do you have an 'international' store nearby?
That's where I last bought some pudding rice (since lockdown); they have a huge range of rice and pulses (along with 5kg bags of flour, trays of eggs, and items such as fresh ginger and chilis).

[oddoneout]

The brown bits and the skin add flavour - arguably the best bits. Scraping out the dish afterwards - great. Those anaemic puddings - from tins or done to avoid skin - really not my bag.

Also eating such puddings cold - no, no, no. Only under extreme circumstances - maybe sometimes.

Fortunately, in view of my single person household status, I'm not overly bothered about cold rice pudding, it's usually just the filler for stewed fruit(hot or cold). I used to quite like the skin on my Scottish granny's rice pudding, but she used jersey milk,good butter, plenty of demerara sugar and a good sprinkle of fresh grated nutmeg. It was a rare treat as she wasn't one for milk puddings and Grandpa didn't have views either way. Rice pudding was a regular at home but was an economy version.
One of my sisters loved the skin on custard, which suited the rest of us.

[Bryn]

Do you have an 'international' store nearby?
That's where I last bought some pudding rice (since lockdown); they have a huge range of rice and pulses (along with 5kg bags of flour, trays of eggs, and items such as fresh ginger and chilis).

If you are willing to make do with ground ginger, they can usually supply a good-sized bag for less than the price of a small pot of the stuff in major supermarkets. I always add a teaspoon of ground ginger to my porridge before cooking it (in a porringer, of course, to retain more of the beta-glucan ).

[oddoneout]

Do you have an 'international' store nearby?
That's where I last bought some pudding rice (since lockdown); they have a huge range of rice and pulses (along with 5kg bags of flour, trays of eggs, and items such as fresh ginger and chilis).

No - the town isn't big enough or mixed enough to manage anything other than a token part shelf in some shops- and then mostly Polish - odd as the biggest 'other' population component by far is Portuguese. I did think that the small Coop I often use might have it as they cater for some 'old-fashioned' items, but sadly not that. The next time I have the car out(which may be quite some time) I'll try the more distant options, including a farm shop which often has a good selection of dry goods. In 'normal' times the Friday market in town has a large stall selling such things, but it hasn't been there for some time.

[gurnemanz]

Rice pudding provides one of my earliest childhood memories. Brown skin (including scraping off and eating bits still stuck to the side of the bowl - Pyrex glass, I think) are a strong element in this memory, as is Listen With Mother which was playing the background. This locates the experience firmly at a quarter to two, when the programme was transmitted ("are you sitting comfortably?") and before I had started school, so early Fifties.

We rarely seem to eat it nowadays.

[Serial_Apologist]

Rice pudding provides one of my earliest childhood memories. Brown skin (including scraping off and eating bits still stuck to the side of the bowl - Pyrex glass, I think) are a strong element in this memory, as is Listen With Mother which was playing the background. This locates the experience firmly at a quarter to two, when the programme was transmitted ("are you sitting comfortably?") and before I had started school, so early Fifties.

We rarely seem to eat it nowadays.

I think liking/not liking skin on a rice pudding to be very much a Jack Spratt and his wife scenario - rather like listening to Bruckner. I wonder if there's any correspondence there... To me the appearance was always an immediate put-off - the same went for egg custard.

[vinteuil]

... Listen With Mother which was playing the background. This locates the experience firmly at a quarter to two, when the programme was transmitted ("are you sitting comfortably?") and before I had started school, so early Fifties.

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... I was a contrarian from an early age. My ma recounted that very young, when Daphne Oxenford enquired "are you sitting comfortably?" I would say to the wireless "No!", and as she went on "Then I'll begin... " I would say "But I've just said No!"...

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[Old Grumpy]

Rice pudding provides one of my earliest childhood memories. Brown skin (including scraping off and eating bits still stuck to the side of the bowl - Pyrex glass, I think) are a strong element in this memory, as is Listen With Mother which was playing the background. This locates the experience firmly at a quarter to two, when the programme was transmitted ("are you sitting comfortably?") and before I had started school, so early Fifties.

We rarely seem to eat it nowadays.

My memories are similar...


... that's why I never eat it nowadays, it's disgusting!

And don't get me going on tapioca or semolina

[Pulcinella]

My memories are similar...


... that's why I never eat it nowadays, it's disgusting!

And don't get me going on tapioca or semolina

Not to mention sago. (Oops, I just did!)
Love rice pudding though, but not the skin.
And (confession time) I have been known to eat a whole tin of it cold.

My latest slow cooker attempt was with some reduced (sell-by date) gold-top Jersey milk.
Sultanas and nutmeg added.
Delicious.

[vinteuil]

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And don't get me going on tapioca or semolina

... ah, frog spawn! That's something I've been trying to forget over the last sixty years or so...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapioca_pudding

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