Milchreis is a German rice pudding made by cooking short grain rice on the stovetop in milk with sugar and vanilla. German Milchreis is usually served as a sweet main dish with fruit or compote, or simply with sugar and cinnamon on top.
Serves 4 for main dish.
- 1 c. short grain white rice (brown rice won't get creamy)
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 4 c. milk (or 3 c. milk plus 1 c. cream)
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 2 inch piece of vanilla bean, split open (or 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
Mix the rice, sugar and salt in a large saucepan, stir in the milk and add the whole piece of vanilla bean. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer the rice for 30 minutes, or until soft and milk becomes thick. Stir often. Scratch out vanilla seeds and stir into pudding. Discard bean.
Serve warm with cinnamon and sugar or fruit compote or both.
Tip: Cooking in a pressure cooker will virtually eliminate any chance of the pudding burning on the bottom. Bring the pudding to a boil in a pressure cooker (no lid) the first time, remove from heat, fasten on the lid but don't close the vent. Let it sit on the warm burner for 30 minutes. Check it, if it is not soft enough, bring it to a boil again and repeat (I did this twice, since I am at 6000 feet elevation and rice cooks much slower than sea level).
