Lardon My French: Rice Pudding

For those of you who haven't read my Chocolate Polvoron post, I suppose I'll need to give you a little explanation as to the title of this blog entry.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon the Kulinarya Cooking Club - hence, the "KCC". It was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who were passionate about the Filipino culture and cuisine. Since then, the group has expanded outside of Australia, and now has members from all over the world (one of them being me). Each month KCC showcases a new dish along with our family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino food as we do.

This month, it was Jen (from Jen at Work), Maribel (from FoodGeek's Diary), and Tressa's turn to choose a theme/challenge. Here's the challenge they came up with for this month:

"What Filipino dish (savory or sweet) would you like to have on your birthday?"

This challenge was a bit of a no-brainer for me. I only had to narrow it down between 3 dishes; Chicken Adobo, Pancit Palabok, and Champorado. I already posted my Chicken Adobo recipe, so that narrowed it down to two. I didn't have all the ingredients for Pancit Palabok, an intensely flavored noodle dish with garlic, crab, fish sauce, shrimp, hard boiled egg, green onions, chicharon, calamansi (ha... just to name a few ingredients)... so that I'll save for another day. This worked out in my favor, since Champorado, Filipino chocolate rice pudding, was the most "Birthday-esque" anyways. (you know, since there's chocolate in it).. so Champorado it is!

If today were really my birthday, this would be my birthday breakfast. Champorado is Filipino chocolate rice pudding/porridge, made with glutinous, or "sticky" rice, sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla. It's eaten similarly to the way you eat oatmeal, with a little milk or cream (or even sweetened condensed milk) swirled on top.

Now, for my past roomates and family members, you either already know or have been subject to my slight obsession with Champorado. Usually, it comes in pre-measured packets, and all you have to do is add water and cook it until it's ready. So simple. So dangerous. I would sometimes find myself making a huge batch, and then would eventually have to force it on my friends and roommates so I didn't have to eat it all (not that I didn't want to... hehe). Every time my Lola came to the States to visit, I would beg her to pack a few packets of Champorado mix in her suitcase for me.

*I actually still have one packet (which I brought with me from the States) just in case I had the sudden "Champorado" craving. *

But, since I'm likely to not be able to find those lovely little Champorado packets anywhere here in Paris, I placed my "emergency" packet back in the cabinet (until I really need it) and learned to make it from scratch. I searched a few websites to get an idea of how to make it, and then adapted it to my own taste. Turns out, making Champorado from scratch makes for a much creamier, more chocolate-y and velvety texture... much richer than the pre-measured packets... I'm not hating on the packets though... I still love them!

Champorado

1 cup glutinous or sweet rice
3 cups water
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Add rice and water to a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down and simmer until the rice is fully cooked, stirring occasionally so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan.

Once the rice is fully cooked, add the cocoa powder, sugar, and vanilla, pinch of salt, and stir to combine.