Rice pudding


Rice pudding is a dish made from rice and milk, and commonly other ingredients such as sweeteners, spices, flavourings and sometimes eggs.
Variants are used for either desserts or dinners. When used as a dessert, it is commonly combined with a sweetener such as sugar. Such desserts are found on many continents, especially Asia, where rice is a staple. Some variants are thickened only with the rice starch, while others include eggs, making them a kind of custard.

Rice pudding around the world

Rice puddings are found in nearly every area of the world. Recipes can greatly vary even within a single country. The dessert can be boiled or baked. Different types of pudding vary depending on preparation methods and the selected ingredients. The following ingredients are usually found in rice puddings:
The following is a list of various rice puddings grouped by place of origin.

West Asia/North Africa

  • Levant: rice with milk with anise, caraway, and cinnamon
  • Egypt: Rozz bi-laban is a traditional Egyptian dessert made from rice flour, milk, sugar, and vanilla. It is often enriched with toppings such as cinnamon, raisins, coconut, nuts for added flavor and texture.
  • Tunisia: Mhalbiya made with rice, milk, sugar, rose water or orange blossom water and nuts
  • Riz au lait with milk and sugar
  • baked, with milk, eggs, and cinnamon
  • Sütlaç, served cold; often browned in a salamander broiler and garnished with cinnamon. May be sweetened with sugar or pekmez. The name comes from sütlü aş. It is also consumed by Sephardic Jews, traditionally during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
  • Sholezard made with saffron and rose water. Some variations use butter to improve the texture. It is especially served on Islamic occasions in the months of Muharram and Ramadan.
  • Shir berenj made with cardamom
  • Zarda wa haleeb rice prepared with date syrup served in the same dish as with rice prepared with milk
  • Gatnabour,
  • Südlü aş,

    Central and South Asia

  • Dudhapak with slow-boiled milk, sugar, basmati rice, nuts, and saffron
  • Firni with broken rice, cardamom and pistachio, reduced to a paste, and served cold
  • Kheer with slow-boiled milk
  • Payasam with slow-boiled milk, sugar/ jaggery, and nuts
  • Paayesh with grounded basmati or parboiled rice, milk, sugar or jaggery, cardamom and pistachio; can be served either hot or cold
  • Pongal, a sweet rice pudding made with brown rice, traditionally found in both South Indian cuisine and Sri Lankan cuisine and eaten for New Year's Day festivities.
  • Kiribath, a traditional dish made from coconut milk and rice in Sri Lankan cuisine.

    East Asia

  • Ba bao fan with glutinous rice, red bean paste, lard, sugar syrup, and eight kinds of fruits or nuts; traditionally eaten at the Chinese New Year
  • Put chai ko made with white or brown sugar, long-grain rice flour, red beans, and a little cornstarch. It can be commonly found as street food and has a gelatinous consistency.
  • Tarak-juk : juk made with milk.

    Southeast Asia

Many dishes resembling rice pudding can be found in Southeast Asia, many of which have Chinese influences. Owing to Chinese usage, they are almost never referred to as rice pudding by the local populations but instead called sweet rice porridge.

Britain and Ireland

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, rice pudding is a traditional dessert typically made with high-starch short-grained rice sold as "pudding rice".
The earliest rice pudding recipes were called whitepot and date from the Tudor period. Rice pudding is traditionally made with pudding rice, milk, cream and sugar and is sometimes flavoured with vanilla, nutmeg, jam or cinnamon. It can be made in two ways: in a saucepan or by baking in the oven.
It can be made by gently simmering the milk and rice in a saucepan until tender, and then the sugar is carefully mixed in. Finally, the cream is mixed in, and it can either be left to cool and served at room temperature, or heated and served hot. It should have a very creamy consistency.
When made in the oven, the pudding rice is placed into a baking dish, and the milk, cream and sugar are mixed in. The dish is then placed in the oven and baked at a low temperature for a few hours, until the rice is tender and the pudding has a creamy consistency. While cooking, the pudding may develop a thick crust, which adds a distinct texture. It is traditional to sprinkle the top with finely grated nutmeg before baking. Using evaporated milk instead of whole milk enriches the result and intensifies the caramelised flavour.
An alternative recipe frequently used in the north of England uses butter instead of cream, adds a small pinch of salt, and requires the pudding mixture to stand for an hour or so prior to being cooked. Such puddings tend to set firmly when cooled, enabling slices to be cut and eaten like cake. If eaten hot, the pudding is traditionally served with cream poured on top in wealthy households, and with full-fat milk where cream was not available. A spoonful of sweet jam or conserve is a frequently added topping for the pudding. Clotted cream is often used in the West Country.
A specific type of rice is available and widely used for rice pudding, called pudding rice. Similar to Arborio rice, its grain is round and short, and when cooked produces a creamier consistency than savoury rice. However, other short-grained rice can be used as a substitute.
Ready-made, pre-cooked rice pudding is widely available in supermarkets and corner shops, either chilled in pots or ambient in tin cans, which has a long shelf life. A popular brand is Ambrosia. Some brands are made with skimmed milk.

European dishes similar to rice pudding

  • Arroz con leche with milk, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, sometimes eggs
  • Arroz doce with sugar, milk, egg yolks, cinnamon sticks and ground cinnamon, lemon peel, vanilla and a pinch of nutmeg can be added. The consistency should be thick, soft and held together. It is traditional to create a decorative pattern with ground cinnamon using only the fingertips.
  • Arroz-esne with sugar and milk; sometimes with cinnamon
  • Budino di riso with milk, eggs, raisins and orange peel
  • Grjónagrautur, everyday meal, served with cinnamon, sugar, raisins and lifrarpylsa 'liver sausage'.
  • Milchreis with rice, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and applesauce.
  • Mlečni riž or Rižev puding
  • Mliečna ryža
  • Молочна рисова каша / molochna risova kasha, also can appear as кутя for Christmas
  • Orez cu lapte with milk and cinnamon
  • Riisipuuro, served at Christmas time, often with cinnamon and sugar or prune kissel; additionally used as a filling for the traditional Karelian pasty
  • Rijstebrij or Rijstpap
  • Risengrød, served with butter, sugar and cinnamon or dark fruit juice at the Christmas table and for dinner during the winter months
  • Risengrynsgrøt/risgrøt/riskrem, served with butter, sugar and cinnamon and especially popular at Christmas, usually eaten on 23 December in a celebration called Lillejulaften 'Little Christmas Eve'
  • Risgrynsgröt, served with sugar and cinnamon and milk or fruit juice sauce, at the Christmas table and for breakfast and dinner during the winter months, especially during Christmas time
  • Riža na mlijeku
  • Riso al latte
  • Riz au lait or the moulded riz à l'impératrice
  • Ρυζόγαλο/rizogalo stovetop or baked rice pudding, with milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
  • Ryż na mleku
  • Sutlijaš
  • Syltjash / qumësht me oriz
  • Сутлијач / Благ ориз , also Лапа with black poppy seeds
  • Сутлијаш / sutlijaš
  • Мляко с ориз / mliako s oriz, or Сутляш in certain regions with milk and cinnamon
  • Tameloriz
  • Tejberizs and rizsfelfújt often with raisins or golden raisins, cinnamon or cocoa powder, sometimes with almonds or walnuts; for dessert or breakfast
  • Teurgoule
  • Рисовая каша / risovaya kasha, usually eaten for breakfast, sweetened with sugar and served with a knob of butter

    Nordic countries

In the Nordic countries, rice porridge is commonly eaten for breakfast, dinner and sometimes lunch. It is made as a warm dish from rice cooked in milk. When served, it is commonly sprinkled with cinnamon, sugar and a small knob of butter, and served with milk or fruit juice. In Iceland, it is sometimes served with cold slátur, a type of liver sausage. In different languages it is called risengrød, risengrynsgrøt or risgrøt/risgraut, risgrynsgröt, riisipuuro, grjónagrautur, hrísgrautur or hrísgrjónagrautur, and rísgreytur.
The rice porridge dinner is used as a basis for rice cream dessert. There are many different variants of this dessert but the basis is the same: cold rice porridge is mixed with whipped cream and sweetened. In Sweden, it is sometimes mixed with oranges and is then called apelsinris. Risalamande is cold risengrød with whipped cream, vanilla, and chopped almond, often served with hot or chilled cherry sauce. In Norway, the dessert is called riskrem and served with red sauce. Rice cream dessert is called ris à la Malta in Sweden, while what is referred to as risgrynspudding is made with eggs instead of cream.
In Scandinavia, rice pudding has long been a part of Christmas tradition, in some countries referred to as julegröt/julegrøt/julegrød/joulupuuro or tomtegröt/nissegrød. The latter name is due to the old tradition of sharing the meal with the guardian of the homestead, called tomte or nisse. In Finland, Christmas rice porridge is sometimes eaten with a kissel or compote made of dried prunes.
A particular Christmas tradition often associated with rice pudding or porridge is hiding a whole almond in the porridge. In Sweden and Finland, popular belief has it that the one who eats the almond will be in luck the following year. In Norway, Denmark, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, the one who finds it will get the almond present as a prize. In Denmark and the Faroe Islands, the almond tradition is usually done with risalamande served as dessert at julefrokost or on Christmas Eve. In Norway, it is commonly served as lunch or early dinner on Christmas Eve or the day before, lillejulaften 'Little Christmas Eve'. In Sweden and Finland, it is more commonly done with a rice porridge dinner, sometimes a few days before Christmas Eve.