Baked Coconut Pudding Recipe

This rice pudding made with coconut milk and toasted coconut is another French-inspired dessert. When serve in the Vietnamese home, it might be accompanied by fruits in syrup, or stir-fried bananas or pineapple. It needs long, slow cooking in a low oven, so be sure to allow plenty of time to make it. It is well worth the wait.

The Vietnamese love sticky rice and mung bean desserts and always sprinkle a little extra sugar over the top to serve. For a slightly different flavor, serve the rice pudding with slices of seared mango or banana instead of the sauteed pineapple.

Ingredients : Serves 4-6

90 g

600 ml

300 ml

75 g

25 g

45-60 ml

1 small

30 ml

5 cm

Pudding rice

Coconut milk

Full-fat (whole) milk

Caster (superfine) sugar

Butter, plus extra for greasing

Fresh or desiccated (dry unsweetened shredded) coconut, toasted

Sweet pineapple

Sesame oil

Fresh root ginger, peeled and grated

Shavings of toasted coconut, for garnishing

Method :

Preheat the oven to 150^oC/300^oF/Gas 2.
Grease an oven proof dish. In a bowl, mix the rice with coconut milk, milk and 50 g sugar and tip it into the oven proof dish. Dot pieces of butter over the top and place the dish in the oven.
After 30 minutes, take the dish out and gently stir in the toasted coconut.
Return it to the oven for a further 1 1/2 hours, or until almost all the milk is absorbed and a golden skin has formed on top of the pudding.
Using a sharp knife, peel the pineapple and remove the core, then cut the flesh into bite-size cubes.
Towards the end of the cooking time, heat the oil in a wok or heavy pan.
Stir in the ginger and, as the aroma is released, add the pineapple cubes, turning them over to sear on both sides. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and continue to cook until the pineapple is slightly caramelized.
Serve the rice pudding spooned into bowls and topped with the hot, caramelized pineapple and shavings of toasted coconut.