Arroz con Dulce
Puerto Rican Coconut Rice Pudding
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César Ramón•
May 27, 2025
This Arroz con Dulce is a love letter to my Abuela Nerida and a taste of Puerto Rican Christmas. It starts with a fragrant "té de especias" – a spiced tea of ginger, cinnamon, star anise, and cloves. The rice simmers until creamy and tender, then it's sweetened with cream of coconut and sugar. If you don't like raisins, I encourage you to give them a chance after having soaked them in rum.
Ingredients (14)
Ingredients (14)
To finish
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine the rice (2 cups) and water (2 cups). Let soak for at least 3 hours, or up to overnight. Drain the rice in a fine-mesh sieve and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the raisins and rum. Let soak overnight.
To make the spiced tea, in a large pot or saucepan, combine water (2 cups), ginger (1 Tbsp), cloves (7), cinnamon sticks (3), star anise (3), and bay leaf (1). Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Strain the spiced tea through a fine-mesh sieve and set aside.
In the same pot, combine the drained rice and the spiced tea and coconut milk (2 cups). Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
Stir occasionally to prevent sticking
Stir in the cream of coconut (1 cup) and sugar (1 cup). Cook until the sugar dissolves and the liquid reduces by half, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the plumped raisins. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon and coconut chips. Serve warm or cold.
