Black rice

A friend of mine made this really great dish a few weeks back using black rice. I've had black rice before, but have never cooked it myself. My hubby and I really liked what she made and she gave us a few cups to take home. So last night, I decided to try to imitate her dish.

I didn't have quite as many scallions as I would have liked, but at least I had some. So basically, I first cooked the black rice in coconut milk in my rice cooker. My friend had warned me that the rice takes a bit more water and time to soften, but I didn't realize that it would take quite as long as it did. I must have set the rice cooker to cook 3 times before I was happy with the consistency! Of course, I probably should have thought ahead and soaked it first. Anyways, then I scooped out what I wanted to use for dinner and added golden raisins, sliced almonds, scallions, salt, pepper, and my favorite hot sauce. I didn't measure anything so everything was done to taste. All in all, it turned out well! I usually hate raisins in anything, preferring to eat them by themselves, but I actually liked them in this!

Today, I used the leftover rice to make rice pudding. I didn't do anything fancy or anything. I just added more coconut milk and some water and sugar. When it got creamy, I added vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace and some cocoa powder. Again, I didn't measure and just seasoned to taste. It didn't need a lot of sugar because the coconut milk has a bit of sweetness to it. I think the coconut milk was such a strong flavor, in fact, that I don't think I was able to taste much of the spices. Anyways, the result was a fairly flavorful dessert. However, if you like the mushy, creamy kind of rice pudding, black rice probably isn't for you. I cooked and cooked it, but it wouldn't get mushy. Black rice simply has a chewier texture and although it's creamy, you just can't get the same texture as something like arborio rice.

Just to note, I'm more of a fan of short grain rice, so my black rice was the short grain variety. I find that short grain rice tend to get stickier and creamier and mushier. Long grain rice just doesn't get as sticky and it usually isn't my top choice when I buy rice. That's just my preference though.

Anyways, I have some more uncooked black rice left on my shelf and I'm wondering what I'll try doing with it next! For now, we have enough cooked leftover rice to satisfy us for a while. :-)