Hawiian Rice and Coconut Pudding

TGIF!! Not sure why I said that, makes no difference what day it is! LOL... But anyway...

I have a really tasty dessert for today's post, it's Hawiian Rice and coconut pudding, mmmmmmmmmmm....

But first I'm going to introduce you guys to a different kind of coconut. Most of you probably never saw these before but trust me they are really good and good for you. I know some of you are saying "but coconuts are fattening" and you're right if you're talking about the brown ones you buy at your local grocery store but I'm talking about green coconuts or fresh young coconuts. Not fattening at all!

Follow this link for nutritional info and lot of other interesting facts.

Because they are young coconuts they are completely different from the brown ones. The shell is still thin (but still very hard) and the meat inside is also thin and still very soft. Also they are completely full of water, very tasty water!
I usually cut mine open and drink it straight from the coconut with a straw then I use a long handled spoon and scoop out the meat... YUM!
You may have seen them before and just didn't know what it was but next time you see one try it!

I also make coconut smoothies with bananas and pineapple since they contain about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of meat and water.

Opening them is a bit tricky but if you're not afraid to swing a heavy knife you shouldn't have any problems.

I usually do this outside on the patio but you can do it in the kitchen too. You'll need a really heavy knife or cleaver and you're going to have to make 4 swings into the coconut as shown. I never hold the coconut because knowing me I'd chop off an arm or something so if you're like me be careful.
Once your 4 cuts are made just stick the point of the knife into one of the cuts and pry off the top.
At this point you can just pop in a straw and drink the water or pour it into your blender with the meat and make a smoothie.

So here's one of many recipes you can make with these coconuts:

Hawaiian Rice & Coconut Pudding

Ingredients:

*2 1/2 cups (1 batch) cooked Chinese sticky rice (at the bottom of that post)

**2 1/2 cups coconut milk (550 gr.) 
1 cup brown sugar (180 gr.) 
1/4 tsp. salt 

Method: 

In a small saucepan add coconut milk, brown sugar and salt, bring to a slow boil for about 
2-3 minutes. Pour 1 cup of the coconut sauce into the cooked rice and set the remaining sauce aside.
Mix the rice and sauce mixture well and cool for about 30 minutes. Form the rice mixture into 18 balls and place them into 6 small bowls. Top with sauce and serve.

* I want to make sure you're clear on the rice, it's 2 1/2 cups of already cooked rice, not 2 1/2 cups rice, cooked, that would make about 4 cups of rice which would really mess up this recipe.


** to make the coconut milk, drain the water into a high powered blender, scrape out all the meat and add to the blender, blend until smooth.