Coconut Rice Pudding with Caramelised Sweet Potato

A challenge has been set. " #TaytoRiCo. Thinking outside the box."  What is that, you ask?  @Jmfield, @TangledNoodle and @Dailyspud have created a challenge to come up with a dish that includes potato (Tayto), rice (Ri) and coconut (Co).  

The dish can come in any form and whatever derivative of the 3 main ingredients.  I had so many ideas and didn't know what to make.  I became inspired by the Autumn weather we are now having. Something warm and comforting.  Unfortunately, the day I decided to make this, the day was sunny and warm.  Oh well, it was delicious to eat, nonetheless.

I decided to make a rice pudding and give it a Asian/Filipino twist.  I had joked around with my twitter friends that it's not so much of  an "out of the box" idea but more of "sitting on the edge" of it.  

I substituted some of the milk with coconut milk and served with a caramelised sweet potato.  I've seen similar rice puddings but have never made it myself before.  The idea of the sweet potato came to me when my mum made kamote cue.  This is a popular Filipino snack where sweet potato is deep fried then caramelised with brown sugar.  I did a healthier version where I simmered in water then caramelised it.  It didn't come out crunchy and crispy like the original version but I wanted to get a softer texture to go with the rice pudding.

Rice Pudding recipe
1 cup pudding rice (or aborio rice)
2 cups coconut milk
2 cups full fat milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
5 tbs of caster sugar

Caramelised Sweet Potato
1 medium sweet potato, halved then thinly sliced
1 large knob of butter
3 tbs brown sugar


1.  Preheat oven to 170degC (150degC fanforced)
2.  In a 1.5liter capacity oven dish, place all the ingredients for the rice pudding.
3.  Cover dish with foil and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for a further 35-40 minutes
4.  To make the caramelised sweet potato, pour water into a large frying pan, about 3-5 cm deep.
5.  Simmer the sweet potato until all water has evaporated or until the potato is tender.  If not yet tender, add more water
6.  Add the butter and brown sugar to the potato.
7.  Cook until the sugar has melted and has covered the potato all over.

To serve, place the rice pudding in serving bowls and top with the sweet potato.  Drizzle some of the caramel over the rice.  The rice pudding can be eaten hot or cold.   Hubby suggested cold rice pudding can be eaten with a dollop of your favourite jam.

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie