The gooey balls of black rice with chestnuts are soaked in sweet coconut milk and decorated with colorful strawberries, kiwis and mangos. This is a sweet and healthy dessert that will bring you the happiness of summer.
Black rice with coconut milk and fruits is one of my favorites from the Hong Kong dessert shop – Honeymoon Dessert. It was originally a Thai dessert, but quite a lot of stores from Hong Kong and Taiwan have adopted it. The original name of the dessert is “Mango black rice sweet in the snow”. As its name suggests, the dessert is made from steamed black rice and is served with mango and coconut milk. The black rice is mixed with sugar. It’s sweet, gooey, and has a nice fragrance of grain. While the coconut milk and fruits are quite light, the rice ball makes this a pleasantly filling dessert.
I really love the mouthfeel of glutinous rice with coconut milk, so I decided to replicate the recipe at home. The cooking process was surprisingly easy, which makes me wonder why I ever wanted to pay five times the cost to have this dessert in a crowded shop.
To cook this, you will need black rice. Black rice has a texture that is between glutinous rice and brown rice. The cooked rice has deep purple color, a spongy and sticky texture, and a nutty flavor.
You can cook black rice in a rice cooker the same way you would cook white rice. Some recipes claim you should always soak the rice overnight before cooking. If you do this, the cooked black rice will have a very soft texture. However, I prefer my rice a bit chewy, like properly cooked risotto, so I always cook it directly without soaking. It’s a time-saver, too!
If you don’t have a rice cooker, no worries! You can refer to this article on how to prepare black rice without a rice cooker.
Although the recipe below is for a cold dessert, you can easily turn it into a warm dessert, too. This is especially satisfying on a cold winter day. Instead of blending the coconut milk and ice cubes in a food processor, boil 1 can coconut milk with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 cup of water in a small pot until the sugar is dissolved and the coconut milk is warm. If you cannot get fresh fruits, you can use canned fruits instead. This way, you can enjoy this dessert any time of year. Sound easy enough?
Hope you all enjoy this simple dessert and have a sweet week ahead!
Black Rice with Coconut Milk and Fruits
Ingredients
- 150 grams (5 ounces) black rice
- 8 chestnuts , cooked (Optional)
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 can (270 milliliter / 9 ounces) coconut milk
- 10 ice cubes (*see footnote 1)
- 2 small mangos , cubed (*see footnote 2)
- 8 strawberries , sliced
- 4 kiwis , sliced
Instructions
- Rinse and drain black rice. Put rice into a rice cooker, add 300 milliliters (10 ounces) water, and proceed to cook it as you would cook white rice.
- After the rice is cooked, transfer it to a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and mix well (You can sweeten according to your preference by using more or less sugar). Use a pestle or muddle to crush and grind the rice until it becomes sticky and easy to shape. Set aside to cool.
- Combine coconut milk, ice cubes and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar in a food processor (or blender) and mix until the ice is blended well (In a hot summer day, I intentionally leave some shaved ice pieces to increase a cool mouthfeel). Divide the coconut milk evenly among 4 small bowls.
- Use an ice cream scoop to shape the black rice into balls. Add one ball of rice to each bowl of coconut milk.
- Garnish with sliced fruits and serve immediately.
Notes
- This dessert can be served cold or warm. If you want a warm dessert, replace the ice cubes with water. Use 2/3 cup water or milk to dilute the coconut milk. Add sugar and heat the coconut milk until warm before serving.
- You can use whichever fruits you prefer. Tropical fruits work better. Add one type of fruit for convenience, or multiple types for a fancier and more colorful dessert.
Wow, this looks and sounds utterly a-mazing! I love all kinds of dessert soups and I particularly love coconut milk and chestnuts! It’s awesome you figured out how to make this at home! I once learned how to make mango sago and my husband requests it all the time. I have a feeling this one would be a huge hit.
Hi Monica, glad to hear you like this one! I was afraid the black rice looks too unfamiliar. I love mango sago too! If you ever want to share your secret recipe, I will definitely learn to make it! 🙂
Oh my goodness, this looks incredible Maggie! I love this dessert but have never made it at home! Your pictures are totally making me crave some right now! Love the recipe and I would love to make this at home one day 🙂 Piinning 🙂
Thanks Kelly! I really like this one too and that’s why I decided to figure out the recipe! It’s incredibly easy to make and really tasty. Happy cooking!
This looks so delicious! Lovely photos 🙂
Hi Lilli, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! 🙂
I love black rice and coconut milk! I love your idea to serve it warm as well. It sounds like a perfect cool weather dessert.
Hi Joy, thanks for stoping by and leaving a comment! Yes, this dessert is great for summer and autumn 🙂
This is such an interesting dessert, Maggie! It always amazes me to hear about popular treats on the other side of the world. Something so well-known over there and yet here we’d have no idea. Well, at least I don’t. 🙂 Your blog is always a window into the unknown for me! I have never tried black rice, but I’m looking forward to another new culinary adventure!
Yeah, sometimes I’m amazed that people have such different eating habit! Black rice is really tasty and great with sugar. Hopefully you’ll like it 🙂
This dessert looks so interesting Maggie. I always see black rice in the grocery stores here, but have never attempted to cook with it. Like you, I prefer a chewy rice but I suppose I’d have to check out that article on cooking it without a rice cooker. I’m gonna share this with a friend who really loves these kinds of desserts.
Thanks for sharing Christine! I think cooking with black rice is quite an Asian thing. Black rice have a special nutty flavor and taste good in dessert or sweets.
Every household in China owns a rice cooker, so I never think about cooking rice without it! But I guess I should look into it, since it’s not so common outside Asia… Thanks for reminding me 🙂
I have been to Honeymoon a few times. This dessert is awesome, Maggie! I just saw some sweet and ripe mangoes in the supermarket. I need to get some now. Hopefully, I can get some black rice this weekend too! I would never thought cooking the black rice in rice cooker! So cool!
Interesting! Seems like Honeymoon dessert is very popular around the world. They are quite expensive here, and actually most of the things are so easy to cook at home. Will try to cook more of their dessert in the future 🙂
I’ve seen this many times and I’ve seen my friends ordering and eating this… But I have never had it even once!! Looks so delicious!
You should definitely try out this one! I think it shares some similarities with Japanese dessert, buy using fruits and sticky rice. Hope you’ll like it 🙂
I really think this sounds delicious! Going to have to try it. I typically sweeten with pure maple syrup or agave nectar. Do you think swapping one of these out for the sugar would work just as well?
I haven’t tried out maple syrup or agave nectar with this dessert yet, but I think agave nectar (the one with lighter color) works better. Maple syrup has a special fragrant that I’m not sure it goes well with the coconut milk. Do let me know if you tried out this recipe! Really want to know how the sweetener works out 🙂
Happy cooking!
Maggie
I love just black rice in coconut milk, no sugar no salt just mix the cooked black rice with coconut milk then let it set in the fridge. When I serve it I just drizzle some honey over it
You could add nuts or fruit but I love it just plain, although I do sometimes add some young coconut meat in with it.
Hi, Maggie! I tried this recipe at home, but my rice ended up fluffy and not like the glutinous pudding I wanted . Perhaps it’s because I used the setting for “brown rice” on my rice cooker? I was worried that the grains would be harder than traditional white rice and needed the extra time to cook, like their brown-hulled brethren. Will dutifully try this again some other time with the “white rice” setting, but wanted to ask to see if you had other recommendation first!
Hi Clare, did you soak the rice before cooking? I wouldn’t soak it if you use the brown rice setting.
Also the black rice usually requires a different water ratio. If you find your rice comes out too soft, you can play with reducing the water quantity as well.
And yeah you can definitely try with the regular white rice setting. That would help!
Thank you, Maggie!
I did not soak; I only rinsed briefly. However, I will try changing the water ratio to see if I can get it right like yours. 🙂
My rice came out like a good steel-cut oatmeal: just-cooked, with lots of bite and texture in the grains. However, I wanted more of a pudding like I’ve had in Hong Kong dessert shops. I’m just not sure what direction to go in- if I need to add more water, or soak more, or something else.