Turkish Rice Pudding (Sütlaç)
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Sütlaç is a very creamy Turkish pudding that contains a small amount of rice and is thickened with rice flour and a little cornstarch. Traditionally it's flavored with rose water and mastic. It's prepared on the stovetop, but at the end it's broiled until it develops a quite intense golden crust that gives a pleasant caramel and slightly burnt flavor.
Note that the hot pudding is quite liquid, but that's fine, it will firm up enough in the refrigerator. At the end, after cooling, it should remain creamy. It can be prepared using only cornstarch (turns out very fine) or only rice flour. If you don't have a broiler in your oven, the pudding can be baked at 180°C, with the dishes placed in a pan filled with water up to half the height of the forms. Bake just until it develops a crust.
Ingredients
500ml whole milk
30g short-grain rice
150ml water
30g sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
1 level tablespoon rice flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 pinch salt
Servings: 3-4
How to prepare turkish rice pudding (sütlaç)
- Wash the rice well in several changes of water until the water runs clear. Place in a small pot together with the 150ml water and cook over low heat just until no water is visible on it. It takes about 10 minutes, you need to stir it 2-3 times so it doesn't stick, and at the end the rice will be swollen but only al dente, still slightly firm in the middle.
- Add the hot milk and salt over the rice. Now if you want to flavor your pudding differently than I chose (cinnamon stick, lemon or orange zest, etc.) add them now. Bring the milk to a boil.
- When it starts to boil, dissolve the rice flour and cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cold water, then add 5 tablespoons of hot milk one at a time, stirring after each. Add the liquid obtained to the milk slowly while stirring with a whisk (a whisk is best for stirring puddings).
- Cook the pudding over low heat, stirring slowly but continuously, for 10 minutes. The pudding will thicken a bit (it won't hold on a spoon, just leave a thick film; it feels like a drinking yogurt).
- Add the sugar and stir for another 1 minute. Remove the pot from heat and add the orange blossom water (or any essence: rose water, vanilla extract, rum essence, mastic, etc.)
- Pour the pudding into 3-4 ceramic ramekins (don't fill the forms too much, leave space at the top because the pudding puffs up a bit when baking) and place them in the oven under the broiler, just until they form a brown crust and you smell caramel (about 5 minutes).
- Let the pudding cool, then refrigerate for several hours to firm up more. When you take it out, if you shake it, it should jiggle like aspic, a sign that under the golden crust, the pudding is creamy.
Rice with water
Rice cooked in water
Pudding cooked for 10 minutes
Pudding with sugar in ramekins
