A Sweet Ending

Eating out and socializing can be tricky sometimes. In one situation, you may have perfect company, but the restaurant lets you down. You have to put up with a confused menu, bland and uninspiring dishes and a robot-like waitress (why can’t she smile???). The night becomes less than perfect with undelivered promise. In another situation, you may be in a lovely restaurant where food quality is superb and the surrounding is gorgeous. But well, bad company ruins what supposed to be a great friend union. You sit there, trying to be as polite as possible, thinking “What the heck is wrong with this person? How can he/she treat nothing with proper respect?” I guess the situations like these happen occasionally to all of us… But two nights out in the row like that make me kinda fed up with the whole thing.

But time to move on and stop complaining. After missing out on the expectedly good dessert from here, I decide to make a simple dessert as a remedy at home. This is the combination of a sweet and ‘coconuty’ rice pudding and the lovely flavors of papaya and lime juice. Growing up in Asia, I always think that coconut milk and rice make a perfect match in both savoury and sweet dishes. Adding papaya, my favorite tropical fruit, is a bonus that I am more than happy with!

This dessert for me is quite healthy. I have cut out the milk and cream from the original recipe and only used coconut milk here for creaminess. Coconut milk has strong flavours, so I think it is more than enough to flavour the rice. The fresh fruit topping is just wonderful. If you find papaya too sweet to your liking, lime juice will help to cut back the sweetness and give the dish a refreshing taste.

A good dessert with a loving company can really make our days better. Don’t you guys agree?

Coconut Milk Rice Pudding with Papaya & Lime

Adapted from Bill Granger’s recipe

Ingredients (for two small servings)

¼ cup short-grain rice (I used premium sushi rice)

1 cup coconut milk

2 tbsp sugar

½ cup water

1 small ripe papaya, skinned, seeded and cut into small cubed

Brown sugar, to sprinkle

2 slices of lime

Method

Combine the rice, coconut milk, sugar and water in a small sauce pan. Bring to the boil then simmer over very low heat for 1 hour. Stir from time to time to prevent sticking. After the rice is cooked, cover with a lid and let it sit for 10 mins.

To serve, top with papaya and sprinkle with brown sugar. Add lime juice if preferred.

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I am sending this Asian-inspired dessert to Weekend Herb Blogging, which is hosted by the lovely Susan from The Well Seasoned Cook. Make sure to check out the round up at the beginning of next week. Also don’t forget to drop by Kalyn’s blog to find out more about WHB.