Black glutinous rice pudding with coconut milk
Black glutinous rice simmered slowly until soft and creamy with slab sugar and red dates, finished with a spoonful of coconut milk.
- 1 hr 10 min
- Serves 4
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Qi-deficient types often have cold hands and feet and a weak appetite, so a warm bowl of rice pudding is comforting at the Start of Winter. Black glutinous rice turns creamy, warming and filling; red dates support qi, and just a little coconut milk adds fragrance without heaviness.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 60 min- 1Rinse the black glutinous rice and soak it overnight (at least 4 hours); keep the soaking water.
- 2Put the rice and its water in a pot, bring to the boil, then simmer half-covered over low heat for about 50 minutes, stirring now and then so it doesn't catch.
- 3Add the red dates and slab sugar and simmer for 10 minutes more, until the grains burst and the soup thickens.
- 4Ladle into bowls, drizzle each with 1 tbsp coconut milk, stir and eat hot.
Cautions
- Glutinous rice is slow to digest — have less when bloated; people with diabetes should cut the sugar and keep portions small.
Chef's tips
- The purple soaking water carries colour and flavour, so cook the rice in it.
The TCM view
Black glutinous rice is sweet and warm, supporting the middle qi and warming the spleen and stomach; red dates are sweet and warm, strengthening the spleen, supporting qi and nourishing blood; coconut milk is sweet and warm, generating fluids. Together they gently warm and tonify the spleen and stomach — a good winter tea-break for qi-deficient types.
