Champorado (Chocolate Rice Pudding/Porridge)

August 15, 2009

This is my favorite breakfast as a kid, it’s quite obvious, isn’t it? I mean chocolate for breakfast?! Whoever thought of this was genius, no wonder I’m such a good girl and my siblings too, our mother always made sure we get our “happy meal” first thing in the morning :). We usually eat this with our favorite bread pan de sal (I have yet to try making it), now that’s a lot of carbs to fuel our little bodies, it may be the reason why we’re so active as kids, we’re all over our neighborhood.

I do the same with my kids, and I’d get “I love you”s and “thank you, mommy” s with hugs and kisses to boot in return, now if those aren’t enough to make your day as a mom, I don’t know what will!

I have to tell you, my eldest is not the most demonstrative child in the world when it comes to showing her love for us and she’s a ‘tweener now which makes it more difficult for her especially around someone else outside of the family, but when I give her “treats” like this chocolate porridge, I get unsolicited show of affection from her. 🙂

Champorado is so simple to make really, you just have to watch it and give it a stir while it cooks but that’s another plus, it’s a good workout for your arms (make sure you change hands to get even results), and you can even do little leg lifts while stirring (just be careful) just like I do :). If you want to make some of this delicious chocolate rice pudding or porridge, here’s the recipe:

champorado_chocolate_rice_pudding

CHAMPORADO (Chocolate Sweet Rice Pudding/Porridge)
This is my own recipe, according to my taste, you can tweak as you please, follow your own taste 🙂

Ingredients:

1/2 cup glutinous rice or sweet rice (malagkit)*
3 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons cocoa (dutch-processed or regular will do)
3/4 -1 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
evaporated milk for serving
Optional:
dash of cinnamon
dash of cayenne pepper

* note: use only this kind of rice or any short-grain with high starch content, the kind you use for rice puddings and risotto; long grain rice won’t give the same texture.

Procedure:

Combine glutinous rice and water in a saucepan over medium high heat, partially cover (this is to avoid over-spilling) with the lid and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine cocoa and 2/3 cup of brown sugar, add a dash/pinch of salt, cinnamon and cayenne (if using) or even a little coffee powder to enhance the chocolate flavor. Blend well, and break up any lumps the brown sugar may have, set this aside.

When the rice is half-cooked, start adding the cocoa/sugar mixture, gradually while stirring to avoid any lumps, keep stirring until the cocoa/sugar mixture is well incorporated. Lower the heat and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes, more or less. Add a little more water if you have to.

Stir constantly to avoid sticking in the bottom of the pan, it’ll help if you’re using non-stick saucepan. I’s done when the rice is already tender, not al dente!

Serve on bowls with evaporated milk (this for me is the best for champorado, I have tried cream, fresh milk and lowfat and non-fat, they’re not the same, but that’s just me, I grew up with using evaporated milk, of course you may add what tastes best for you.

Enjoy!

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