Arroz-Doce de Festa Junina

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 3-liter pot
• •Wooden spoon or silicone spatula
• •Small ladle
• •Fine grater or small sieve for dusting cinnamon

Instructions

1. 1

   Soften the rice

   Put the rice, water, and salt in a heavy pot over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil, then lower the heat and cook uncovered until the water is mostly absorbed and the rice looks swollen but still wet, about 12 minutes. Start in water because rice softens cleanly there; if you begin with milk, the milk can catch before the grain is tender.

2. 2

   Add milk and spice

   Stir in the warm milk, sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves, and orange peel if using. Keep the heat low enough for small bubbles at the edge, not a rolling boil. Warm milk joins the pot without shocking the rice, and gentle heat keeps the bottom from scorching while the grains release starch.

3. 3

   Cook until creamy

   Cook, stirring every few minutes and scraping the bottom of the pot, until the rice is very tender and the milk has thickened into a loose cream, about 20 minutes. The spoon should leave a soft path that closes slowly. Don't cook it until stiff in the pot, because arroz-doce thickens as it cools and nobody asked for sweet cement.

4. 4

   Finish the pot

   Remove the cinnamon stick, cloves, and orange peel. Stir in the condensed milk and vanilla, if using, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, until glossy and spoonable. Condensed milk is the honest festa shortcut: it gives body and that familiar sweetness, but it also makes the pot richer, so taste before adding more sugar.

5. 5

   Serve with canela

   Spoon the arroz-doce into a serving bowl or small cups and dust the top with ground cinnamon. Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled. Warm is softer and more fragrant; chilled is thicker and cuts sweeter on the tongue. Both count, anota aí.

Chef Tips

• •Use ordinary white rice. This is not the day to show off with expensive grains. The rice from the pê-efe knows exactly what to do here.
• •Don't walk away once the milk is in. Milk catches quietly, then announces itself with a burnt taste through the whole pot. Scrape the bottom often and keep the heat low.
• •No instant pudding mix. No powdered dessert pretending to be Festa Junina. If a spoonful of rice, milk, cinnamon, and sugar can do the job, let it.
• •For a coconut version, replace 1 cup of the milk with 1 cup coconut milk and add 1/2 cup grated coconut. That's a real variation, not a trick.
• •If the pudding gets too thick after chilling, stir in a splash of milk before serving. Arroz-doce is forgiving when you treat it like food, not like a chemistry exam.

Advance Preparation

• •Arroz-doce can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge.
• •If serving chilled, make it slightly looser than you want, because it thickens as it rests.
• •Dust with ground cinnamon just before serving so the top stays clean and fragrant.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 215g)