What is Black Sticky Rice Pudding?
Bubur ketan hitam (Indonesian) or bubur pulut hitam (Malay) is an Indonesian dessert made with black glutinous rice, mixed with palm sugar and coconut milk. The most basic variant that is served in Indonesia consists only of black glutinous rice sweetened with sugar. Another simple variations has the black sticky rice pudding served with kacang hijau (mung bean). At a fancier restaurant or cafe, it can be served with toppings like banana, mango, cinnamon, ice cream, etc. Growing up, my fourth aunt always cooked black sticky rice with coconut milk, sugar, pandan leaves, a pinch of salt and durian. That remains my favorite combo. Unfortunately buying durian in the US is quite expensive, so I am omitting it from this recipe. Additionally, I have met many people who dislike the smell of durian. To each their own.
Substitution
Palm sugar: You can substitute palm sugar with brown sugar, coconut palm sugar or sugar. Don’t confuse coconut palm sugar with normal palm sugar. Palm sugar is a darker brown color and has a fragrant smoky aroma while coconut palm sugar or coconut sugar has a softer brown caramel color. You can order traditional Indonesian palm sugar from Amazon.
Pandan leaves: You can opt-out of using pandan leaves if you can’t find it at your local Asian store. Usually, pandan leaves are knotted and boiled with the black sticky rice to give aroma.
Bubur Ketan Hitam / Black Sticky Rice Pudding
Course: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: Indonesian, ThaiDifficulty: Easy4
servings5
minutes3
hours495
kcalThis Black Sticky Rice is a delicious comfort food best eaten for breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients
1 cup of black glutinous rice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 8.5 oz coconut milk
2 pandan leaves, optional
mango cubes or any topping of your choice
3 cups of water
Directions
- To cook in a Stovetop
- Rinse the black glutinous rice. In a medium pot, combined black glutinous rice, water, coconut milk, salt, and sugar. Optionally knot the pandan leaves and add to the pot as well.
- Bring the black glutinous rice mixture to boil then reduce the temperature to low. Cover the pot and let it simmer until the rice is tender. This will take approximately 1 – 1.5 hour. Make sure to stir the rice every once in a while to prevent it from burning.
- Once the rice is cooked, you can serve it, just drizzle an additional tablespoon of coconut milk and add your topping of choice.
- To cook in a crockpot
- Rinse the black glutinous rice. Combined black glutinous rice, water, coconut milk, salt, and sugar in your crockpot.
- Cook in high for 3 hours.
- Serve it with a drizzle of coconut milk and topping of your choice.
