Drifting off on coconut water...Memoirs in mind and a bowl of taro and black glutinous rice pudding in the belly
By Passionthy 10:13 PM Desserts
I’ve
always stayed away from traditional dishes, especially the Vietnamese ones
since I never find my replicas to be as good as what my mom cooks (of course). Then,
I recently noticed that I frequently try to substitute and add a modified, personal
touch to whatever recipe my mom tries to teach me. And then I’m surprised and
disappointed that it doesn’t taste the same (Yes, I’m terrible. -Insert exhausted
sigh- ). I’m always looking to not walk in my Mom’s footsteps. I remember, in a
younger memory, that I’d cringe when the saying “Telle mère, telle fille” was
thrown at me. But then, in retrospective, there are so many things that I do
admire about her. And others that clash against the way I think.
My
Mom is probably one of the strongest women I know. In times of trouble, she’s
stable. I see her as a solid ground, a wall of clay vitrified to glass from the
charring of life’s ridges and furrows. As a child, I used to see that rigorous
equilibrium as such a domineering trait. I thought her mindset was so unyieldingly
straight-laced that it was suffocating me, and I kept telling myself that I
would never grow up to develop such a structured state of mind. Up to today, I’m
still holding dear to the idea of a flexible point of view, constantly
retrospective and opened to possibilities. I like to think that there is no bolted
black box, that there are no edges defining its boundaries. At some point,
however, I started to observe that vitrified wall that always stood so unwavering,
imposingly tall and solid. And I wondered if it ever cracked. How easily all
that glass could fissure, little by little, here and there, until that motherly
pressure trying to hold everything together might finally falter, shattering
the whole façade. And I started seeing my Mom differently. How, despite our
clash of personality, she was the one I could still talk to if I needed
counsel. How, amongst all our differences, our pride and high self-expectations
were what pushed us apart, yet still pulled us together. How heavy must the
worry of a mother be for the load to slip off her mind and trace deep grooves in
her spirit. Through that wall of glass, I started to see openings. Fissures of
concern, perhaps, but also fissures of arguments, to bitterness, to understanding and...to
open-mindness.
A
couple of days ago, I was shopping for this recipe that I had been ogling since
summer. I can’t explain why, but I enjoy associating glutinous rice with warmth
and comfort. Of all the different recipes that I enjoy experimenting, I travel
from Morocco to Tibet through my tastebuds. Glutinous rice, however… I
associate it with Vietnam. It’s restful, homey, and it’s my culture. Walking
past the fruits’ aisle, a stack of small, white rice hats caught my eye. As I stepped
closer and recognized the tops of young coconut fruits neatly packed on their
sides, the sweet and creamy smell brought me back to my childhood house’s
kitchen, where Mom would always crack open a young coconut and use the tropical
water for practically all of her dishes.
This
recipe typically calls for coconut milk or water for its liquid components.
However, I miss that fresh coconut scent that would veil our little kitchen’s
air each time my Mom would take off the pot’s lid to check on the doneness of
the dish. And so, I grabbed one of the ivory, husked drupes, thinking of its
milky, tender flesh that I’d get to let melt in my mouth that evening as the
bus drove me back to rez.
I
absolutely love the rich color of the black glutinous rice, casting a ruby
blush to the coconut water as it simmers. Not to mention the smell. Mmm.
Black glutinous rice pudding with taro
Ingredients:
2/3 cup black glutinous rice, soaked in water overnight (it will increase in volume)
2 1/2 cup fresh young coconut water (that's roughly two fresh coconuts. ...or if you're clumsy like me and freak out when you have to chop a coconut apart you can cheat and use one only; fill in the remaining of the required liquid ingredient with water)
1/2 ml coconut-flavored soy milk (I use a little carton of VitaSoy; you can use coconut milk too, this is just my healthy alternative)
1 small taro root (the size of the palm of your hand)
Sugar (optional)
Method:Ingredients:
2/3 cup black glutinous rice, soaked in water overnight (it will increase in volume)
2 1/2 cup fresh young coconut water (that's roughly two fresh coconuts. ...or if you're clumsy like me and freak out when you have to chop a coconut apart you can cheat and use one only; fill in the remaining of the required liquid ingredient with water)
1/2 ml coconut-flavored soy milk (I use a little carton of VitaSoy; you can use coconut milk too, this is just my healthy alternative)
1 small taro root (the size of the palm of your hand)
Sugar (optional)
1) Halve the taro root and steam it until tender.
2) Chop off the top of the young coconuts until you can see a hole peering into the fruit and the white flesh layering its inner walls. Pour out the coconut water and scrape the flesh out into a bowl. Set the latter aside.
3)In a medium pot, put glutinous rice and pour in the coconut water. Cook on high heat uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring the mixture occasionally so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. Lower the heat to medium, add in the soft taro and simmer until the mixture thickens into a heavy pudding consistency.
4) Add in the 125 ml coconut soy milk and stir gently, just enough for the taro to break off into uneven chunks but without mashing it into puree. Keep simmering until the pudding reaches your desired texture.
5) Stir in sugar in the last few minutes if you want to. (I find the coconut water to already be naturally sweet and the soy milk also has some sugar in it so I don't use any additional sugar. Then again, I don't have much of a sweet tooth either :] )
6) Scoop a generous serving into a bowl and top with shreds of coconut flesh (and a drizzle of additional coconut soy milk or coconut milk if you want)
0 comments
