Green Tea Rice (Brown Rice) & Tapioca Pudding

I have always loved eating rice pudding but it's hard to find healthier versions of it at the supermarket so I decided to come up with my own version of this great dessert.

2% Milk 1.5 Cups
Silk/Soft Tofu 1 Cup
Short Grain Brown Rice 1/2 Cup
Water (to steam rice) 1.5 Cups
Tapioca 1/4 Cup
Water (to cook tapioca) 1 cup
Egg
Splenda/Brown Sugar Blend* 5 Tablespoons
Matcha Green Tea 2 Tablespoons
All Purpose Flour** 2 Tablespoons
Vanilla Extract 1/2 Teaspoon
Blackberries***

*I used mainly Splenda and added some brown sugar into it.
** Optional. This is just used to make the texture thicker depending on your preference.
*** Optional. Adding berries to the pudding gives it a nice citrusy contrast. I used blackberries b/c that’s what I had in my fridge so feel free to use something else.


This is basically all the ingredients you need aside from the water to steam the rice and cook the tapioca. Notice the small chunks of brown sugar in the bowl of Splenda. To make brown sugar all you have to do is add molasses to white granulated sugar.




This is what homemade brown sugar will look like. Just make sure you store it in an air tight container and don't pack it in too hard. Brown sugar tends to naturally cluster into small chunks so the harder you pack it in the container then the larger the chunks. It might require the use of a hammer to break it up into pieces.



This is a really good and strong Matcha Green Tea from Japan so just two tablespoons of it was more than enough for the entire pot of pudding. It also had a nice dark green color versus the lighter green I have seen sold at the supermarkets.



This is the silk tofu after a few whisks.



Beat the egg like mad!



First, cook the rice. Remember to keep the cover on and don't take it off until the rice is done! I know it's tempting but you want all that great steam to stay in the pot. I like my rice al dente so I only steamed it for about 10 minutes. So if you like your rice softer then steam it for an additional 5-7 minutes but remember that the rice will also have some additional cook time when it goes into the final pudding pot. I think you can see the reflection of my hand on the cover. ;)



The tapioca will only need a few minutes in boiling water to cook so don't add the pearls until the water boils. Once the pearl turns clear, take the pot off the heat and set it aside to be used later. Most likely, there will be no need to drain the tapioca since the pearls will absorb most of the liquid it was cooked in unless you used more than needed. In that case, just spoon out the excess water since the texture of the pearls will not allow for an easy drain in a collander.



Now comes the fun part! Take a medium size pot and pour in the milk and turn your stove to a low-medium heat. Since I have one of those apartment style electric stove, I turned it up to a 5.



Then add the 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Be very careful with this thing because too much of it can make your pudding taste bitter. I recommend pouring the vanilla into the measuring spoon over the sink or a bowl instead of over the pot.



Add the Matcha Green Tea.



Take your whisk and whisk like mad until all the clumps are gone and the mixture is smooth.



Something like this is good.



Now pour the silk tofu into your mixture. The tofu gives a nice texture to the pudding as well as added health benefits. I prefer to use silk tofu over butter or margarine in making/baking desserts. Trust me, you can't taste the difference.



See what I mean? Already, it looks nice and thick. Whisk it well.



Add the beaten egg in slowly and whisk at the same time. You want to make sure that the mixture is not hot and just luke warm. If not, you might end up with an egg drop pudding and we don't want that. If the mixture is already too hot then temper the egg by adding a little of the mixture into the bowl of the beaten egg, whisk it, then pour it back into the pot slowly. Just hold the bowl very high up and pour the egg mixture into the pot. This way, the egg mixture gets to cool a bit before it hits the pot. Just make sure to keep whisking the mixture with the other hand!



Sugar. I recommend adding 2-3 tablespoons at first so you can control how sweet you want it as you taste it. I ending up adding 5 but I'm sure depending on preference, you might add more or less. Whisk well.



At this point, if you find that your mixture is not thick enough and you would like it thicker then follow the next few steps. If not, skip to adding the rice and tapioca into the mixture.

To make the texture thicker, take two tablespoons of flour and dump it into a small bowl. Take a ladle full of the mixture and pour it into the bowl of flour.



Whisk like mad until the flour is completely dissolved (you do not want any clumps of flour) then pour it slowly into the pot.



We're almost done! Add the rice and tapioca into the pot and mix well. Doesn't it look good?! You can serve it warm or cool. I like it cool.



And you can top it off with slivered almonds or fresh berries like I did. The pudding is really yummy and not too sweet. Plus, you know it's good for you! Enjoy!