Black rice pudding is a healthy dessert made from ingredients you wouldn’t expect! Gooey rice soaked in sweetened coconut milk and paired with fresh summer fruit is a tantalizing treat that will refresh you on the hottest days! {Gluten-Free, Vegan}
Chinese desserts treasure nutritious ingredients such as whole grains, nuts and fruits. They are usually not as sweet as Western desserts and have a very different texture.
Black rice pudding is one of those popular desserts that you often see in dessert shops from Hong Kong and Taiwan. They may have very different names and different presentations depending on the particular shop. But it’s usually made with tender gooey black rice, served in creamy coconut milk, and topped with fun ingredients such as fruit, tapioca pearls, mochi, and / or red bean paste.
Today I want to share the one I love the most – black rice pudding topped with mango. It’s as simple to make as cooking rice, too, giving you a wonderful dessert that is utterly refreshing and sublime on a summer’s day.
Black rice pudding ingredients
What is black rice
Black rice is also called purple rice (紫米, Zi Mi) or forbidden rice. It gets that name from ancient times, as it is so nutritious that it was once reserved for royalty.
Now everyone can get their hands on it, and they should because black rice has more protein than other types of rice, plus it gives you plenty of iron. With antioxidants including anthocyanin, which is what gives it that spectacular hue, you’re fueling your body with incredible nutrition. I also have it in my pantry and throw a small handful of it into my brown rice before I steam it.
Once cooked, black rice has a nutty taste and a slightly chewy and gooey texture that is truly amazing.
Ingredients you need
Black rice pudding only requires five ingredients.
- Black rice
- Coconut milk
- Mango
- Sugar
- Salt
How to make black rice pudding
Making black rice pudding requires a few simple steps:
- Soak the rice (Optional)
- Cook the rice with water
- Steam the rice once it’s cooked
- Mix the black rice with sugar
- Blend the coconut milk with sugar and ice
- Assemble everything together
Do I need to soak the rice?
If you’d prefer your black rice to have a stickier texture, you’re going to want to let it soak for at least an hour at room temperature, or even overnight in your fridge. But if you prefer a chewier texture, you can skip the soaking process.
To make black rice pudding in your rice cooker, you should use the brown rice setting on the cooker. And you can skip the soaking in this case.
How to store black rice pudding?
Like most dishes, black rice pudding tastes the best when it’s made fresh. If you plan to cook it ahead of time, you should store everything separately. The ingredients will stay well in the fridge for 2 to 3 days (but don’t cut the mango until the day before or the day you serve it).
To serve the pudding, you should gently heat up the black rice either in a steamer or in the microwave, to bring back its soft texture. Then you can wait until it has cooled to room temperature before serving it. Do not directly serve refrigerated black rice, because it will have a very tough texture.
Black rice pudding is an elegant dessert choice if you are having dinner guests or if you just want something that’s sweet without using tons of sugar. Either way, you’re going to love the simplicity of it with every bite.
More delicious dessert recipes
- Mango Sticky Rice
- Chinese Pumpkin Cake (南瓜饼)
- Vegan Mango Pudding
- Easy Candied Walnuts with Spice
- Mango Sago (杨枝甘露)
Black Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 cup (7 ounces / 200 g) black rice
- 2 cups water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Dessert bowl
- 2 cans (18 oz / 540 ml) coconut milk
- 4 tablespoons sugar (or syrup)
- 20 ice cubes (about 1 1/2 cup)
- 4 mangos , cubed (*Footnote 2)
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the black rice. If you prefer a stickier texture, add water to cover the rice and soak for 1 hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge. Drain well.
- Add the rice to a small saucepan with 2 cups of water. Cook over medium heat until it boils. Reduce to medium-low heat. Cover the pot. Cook covered for 35 minutes. Do not uncover the lid during cooking. Once done, turn off the heat and let the rice rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the sugar and salt onto the rice while it is still hot. Fluff the rice and mix until the sugar has mixed in and dissolved. Taste the rice. You can add more sugar, if needed, and mix again. Set aside to cool.
- Combine coconut milk, ice cubes and sugar in a food processor or blender. Mix until the ice is chopped into small pieces but not melted completely.
- Add about 1/2 cup rice and 1/2 cup coconut milk into small serving bowls. Divide the mango evenly among the bowls. Serve immediately. (*Footnote 3)
Notes
- You can use a rice cooker to cook the black rice. Use the brown rice setting on your rice cooker and add water accordingly (your rice cooker should have a measurement line for brown rice).
- You can use other seasonal fruit as well. I find that strawberries work nicely here.
- You can store the cooked rice and the blended coconut milk in the fridge for up to 3 days. To serve, reheat the rice in the microwave until warmed through and tender before assembling the bowls.
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.