Champorado (Chocolate Rice Pudding)

So one of my goals for 2012 is to try at least one new Filipino recipe each month.  I want to learn new recipes for a few reasons.  One because my husband's favorite food is Filipino food and I want to make his tummy happy!  Two because we are planning and hoping to move there soon so I want to have a variety of recipes already in my cookbook that I can start out with once we get there.  And three to learn the ingredients that go into common Filipino dishes so I can learn how to substitute ingredients to make them "Jakob safe" (a.k.a. no dairy, eggs, peanuts or mustard).  The first one I tried was Champorado.

I first had champorado a few years ago at my in laws.  It was served for some holiday (maybe Christmas or New Years I think?) after dinner as a snack.  I enjoyed it immediately!  And then the next morning my mother in law served us the leftovers for breakfast!  Chocolate for breakfast, yummy!  I thought this would be a sure hit with Jakob.  I was driving by the Filipino market today so I stopped to pick up some sweet rice.  I asked the clerk for "sticky rice"....trying to act like I knew what I was talking about and pretending like I fit right in at the Filipino market.  I felt like telling her my son was half Filipino to make it sound like I fit in, but that seemed silly to me and the mere thought embarrassed me.  She showed me where it was, I guess it is also called sweet rice.

It was actually very simple to make!  The only ingredients were sweet rice, water, cocoa and a little vanilla.  Cooking the rice was a little tedious, as you have to stir constantly so the rice doesn't burn.  So I stood by the stove for 20 minutes.  But the time passed quickly, especially since I spent by time watching Allan's lastest sermon on my Kindle Fire and spent the remainder of my time talking on the phone with my friend about her recent Valentine's Day party at her house.  Here are some pictures of the experiment!


Here are all of the ingredients laid out and ready to go!  I had to keep adding more water because as I stirred the water evaporated and the rice wasn't done cooking yet.  Most Filipino recipes I get don't have exact measurements, so I just kept adding water and eventually it got to the right consistency.

When Jakob tried it he said "cookies!" since that is the only other time he has ever tasted chocolate.  ha ha... he liked it a lot and asked for seconds.

 

Happy customers!  Allan said it tasted good.  Although he said it tasted like dark chocolate.  He said he was used it to being lighter in color and a little more sweet.  Perhaps that is because I didn't add in condensed milk like the recipe asked for (since I was making it dairy free for Jakob).  Instead I added a splash of coconut milk, which is not quite as sweet as condensed milk. Allan said his sister likes to pair her champorado with bacon.  Perhaps next time we'll try some bacon on the side.

Pretty fun!  Here is the link to the recipe I used for those of you who are interested.  I am looking forward to trying another recipe soon!  I picked up some egg free lumpia wrappers, so maybe turon will be my next try.  I am also determine to try laing (my husband's favorite dish), but I have to research how to properly cook the gabi leaves so they don't make anyone's tongue itchy.