Cold chocolate and coffee rice pudding (champorado)

Rice pudding during the summer might seem crazy, but what's better than mocha rice pudding during a summer thunderstorm? Malagkit rice is the preferred rice for this recipe, but Japanese sushi rice or any short grain rice will do. 

You might think me crazy for craving rice pudding in the middle of summer. But this past week or two, we’ve had a deluge of thunderstorms here in northern Virginia.

And we all know there’s nothing more comforting than curling up on the couch with a rich, creamy bowl of rice pudding as you listen to the pitter patter of raindrops and spy the occasional flash of lightning above the rooftops. Especially when it’s chocolate rice pudding!

Now rice pudding recipes are as common as golden poppies carpeting a California hillside, but I was delighted to find Marvin Gapultous’s Filipino champorado (chocolate and coffee rice pudding) in his new cookbook, “The Adobo Road Cookbook–A Filipino Food Journey–From Food Blog, To Food Truck, And Beyond” (Tuttle Books, May 2013). If you didn’t know already, Marvin is the voice behind the very entertaining  Burnt Lumpia blog. And if you haven’t visited his blog, you should!

More mocha than chocolate since it contains coffee, this rice pudding uses a particular type of rice called “malagkit,” the Tagalog name for long grain glutinous rice. My last encounter with malagkit was when I was making suman with Gloria for my cookbook.

While I was making the champorado, I imagined Gloria standing next to me in the kitchen reminding me to constantly stir the rice. “C’mon, Pat, keep stirring.” I have to admit, without Gloria at my side, I was a delinquent student and only picked up the spoon maybe once every 10 to 15 minutes. Thankfully, the rice didn’t burn and meld to the bottom of the pot (well, at least very little did!).

You are probably thinking, “I’m not going to make rice pudding in summer.” Oh, but you should.

I don’t have a problem eating hot foods in summer – I grew up eating steaming noodles and hot dessert soups in 100-degree weather. However, as Marvin mentions, you can refrigerate the rice pudding for a few hours and eat it cold. And when the rice pudding gets cold and thickens up a little, you can do fancy things with it. (Like molding it into fun shapes.)

Marvin writes in his book that Filipinos eat champorado for breakfast, and accompanied with dried salted fish. Being the modern Pinoy that he is, Marvin adds his own twist to with bacon. I, on the other hand, chose to eat it plain. Sorry, Marvin, couldn’t do it! Know that this recipe is so simple and so adaptable.

If you prefer to eat rice pudding for an afternoon snack or dessert after dinner, then use decaf coffee. Or leave it out entirely (substitute with water) if you’d like to feed it to your kids. If you don’t have malagkit, use Japanese sweet rice (short grain glutinous rice) or any short grain rice like Japanese sushi rice. Even Arborio will do. You can also vary the type of chocolate. I used a bar of bittersweet chocolate instead of semisweet chocolate chips.

Chocolate and coffee rice pudding (champorado)

Makes: 4 to 6 servings
Prep: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

3/4 cup malagkit rice

3 cups milk

1 cup strongly brewed coffee (*may use decaf or substitute water)

1/3 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1 (6 ounce) bar bittersweet chocolate, crushed, or 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (*optional)

1. Combine the rice, milk, coffee, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan over high heat. While stirring frequently, bring everything to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderately low heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender and the mixture thickens, 30 to 40 minutes. (Be the better cook and stir more often than I did!).

2. Remove the rice mixture from the heat. Add the chocolate and stir until it is melted and thoroughly incorporated into the rice. Stir in the coffee liqueur if using.

3. Spoon the pudding into individual bowls and serve warm. Or cover and chill till cold and serve with fresh berries.

Notes: If you’d like to garnish your rice pudding with bacon, cook a couple of slices till crisp, in a pan or in the oven (my preferred method – no splatter). Crumble and sprinkle over your champorado.