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Monday, December 18, 2017

“How To Make Nicaraguan Arroz de Leche” by Lauren W



My mom’s side of the family is from Nicaragua. Our family get-togethers always come with all kinds of tasty Nicaraguan dishes, which include a variety of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. A personal favorite of mine is a very delicious dessert called arroz de leche, which is rice pudding. If you’ve ever had rice pudding from the grocery store, it tastes pretty good, but it is nothing in comparison to this dish. I really enjoy making arroz de leche with my mother, aunt, and grandmother, because it’s a great way to bond with them, especially during all the stress of the holiday season. It is particularly special to me because I have an aunt who lives out of state and rarely can afford the plane ticket to come visit, but when I do get to spend time with her, we always make this dish.
In order to make twenty-four cups with eight ounces of pudding in each cup, you will need all of the following ingredients:
Two cups of white rice
Four sticks of cinnamon
Three cans of evaporated milk (twelve ounces each)
One and a half cans of condensed milk (fourteen ounces each) Three lime peels
Four tablespoons of vanilla extract
Two tablespoons of cornstarch
One fourth of a cup of water
  • ➢  Twelve mini boxes of raisins
  • ➢  One container of ground cinnamon
    Follow these simple steps to make your own arroz de leche:
  1. Boil all of the two cups rice in water. Do this until must of the water is absorbed by the
    rice. Continue this process for approximately half an hour. Keep adding more water to the pot every time you see that the majority of the existing water in the pot has been absorbed by the rice.
  2. After you have done this, leave the rice to soak overnight. If you are making this recipe earlier in the day, leave the rice to soak for about eight to ten hours. This step is important because it allows the rice to soak up all the moisture. Do not be impatient with this step; you don’t want crunchy rice pudding!
  3. Once you have left the rice to soak, add the four cinnamon sticks, three cans of evaporated milk, one and a half cans of condensed milk, four tablespoons of vanilla extract, and three lime peels to the pot of rice. Stir all of these ingredients constantly. You will know you can stop stirring when the ingredients are blended together very well and you do not see separations of the various liquids within the mixture.
  4. When you are done stirring, take the four cinnamon sticks out. Sometimes it is difficult to find the cinnamon sticks within all the ingredients. You can use a large serving spoon or a similar utensil to search for them; run the spoon through the ingredients up and towards the edges of the pot to help the cinnamon sticks surface. If you really cannot find all four cinnamon sticks, don’t stress about it, because they will definitely come out later when
you are pouring the pudding into the individual cups since they are so much larger in size
than the rest of the ingredients.
  1. Make a mixture of two tablespoons of cornstarch with one fourth of a cup of cold water.
    Proceed to add this cornstarch and water mixture to the pot of ingredients.
  2. Remove the pot from the stove. Be careful not to spill!
  3. Boil the twelve mini boxes of raisins in water. Do so until they are plump. You may not
    need all of the raisins; it depends how many raisins you would like to put on each cup of arroz de leche. Should you have extra raisins, there are many other Nicaraguan dishes which also use raisins, and they also make a great snack all by themselves.
  4. Poor eight ounces of the rice mixture into each container.
  5. Add as much ground cinnamon as you prefer along with a few raisins to the top of each
    container of arroz de leche. I tend to add just enough cinnamon that there is still the white colored rice pudding showing underneath the cinnamon. I usually put about five or six raisins on top, however, if you really enjoy raisins, you can certainly add more, or if you dislike raisins, you can opt to use fewer raisins or even none at all. Adding the cinnamon and raisins is one of the fun parts about making this dessert, because they serve not only as another source of the delicious taste, but also as a decorative touch to the whole dish.
  6. Refrigerate all of the containers for at least one hour before eating.
Now you’re ready to eat! I hope you enjoy cooking, eating, and sharing this recipe of arroz de leche. It is a great dessert to try out around this time of year and share with all your family and friends should you attend any holiday gatherings. I even made arroz de leche with my mom for
one of my classes having a holiday potluck all the way back in elementary school. It really isn’t too difficult to make. While there is a long wait time when you allow the rice to soak in the water, the time that you must spend to actually prepare the dish is not very long at all. Thank you for taking interest in my recipe for arroz de leche; I hope you will find it easy to follow and that you will love this dish just as much as I do. Happy holidays!

16 comments:

  1. Thanks for this recipe. I've never tried this the food before but it seems like something I would like and I'm always open to trying new things. The overall dish seems pretty easy to make along with the easy directions you give. Hopefully I'm able to make the dish soon and it comes out good.
    Austyn Coleman
    Period 1

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  2. I absolutely love arroz con leche, but I don't get to eat it as much as I'd like to. I'll definitely try to give this recipe a try, including since the dish means so much to you as an individual and to your family tradition. :-)

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  3. I've never tried arroz de leche before and it seems this recipe will help me! I love how you started and ended this piece with a small story. It really brings feelings into here, rather than just words. You put a lot of detail into each step and it makes easier for the readers to follow. Can't wait to try this recipe!
    Chiquitita Annisa P.2

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  4. Great job on our blog entry. Your recipe on arroz de leche was well put out and didn't look so complicated. Hopefully one day I'll be able to try out a new dish. - Adrian Arteaga Period 1

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  5. This is very good! I enjoyed reading this and learning something brand new. I know hot make arroz con leche but Nicaraguan arroz con leche and I'd love to try it soon. This is very well organized and i love how you explain when you did this with your mom.

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  6. I enjoyed how thoroughly you explained the steps and the personal connection you have to the dish as it is all about family. It was very interesting to read about the Nicaraguan version of arroz de leche and the differences it has from the one im used to making. I will definitely be trying this recipe the next time I am craving this dessert. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

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  7. This was great! I found it very informative and it had me craving this dish. Good job at teaching the reader how to make this!

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  8. I love arroz de leche! I undertsand the feeling of home and family you receive since I also used to make this with my mother when I was young. Now I get to try making the Nicaraguan version of this dish with her, thanks!

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  9. Omg I didn't know you were Nicaraguan. My grandma makes arroz con leche as well and it's not that much different from your recipe. I love how easy this was to follow and how you reassured the readers that this dish is not only tasty but not hard to make. Great job I really enjoyed reading this. Thank you for sharing!

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  10. Your detailed description makes for such an enjoyable and interesting recipe for Nicaraguan Arroz de Leche. I also thoroughly enjoyed your story of what the dish means to you. Great job.

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  11. My Mom and I absolutely love arroz con leche, however, we have only tried the storebought versions. Your directions on how to make it is very simple and something that almost anyone can make. I can't wait to buy all the ingredients and try to make the recipe you detailed above. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  12. Before reading this, I thought I would be very difficult but it does not seem too bad after reading it. This recipe sounds amazing and I loved how you explained that this recipe has a special meaning to you about bonding with your family. This recipe would be great for potluck just as you said.

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  13. I really enjoyed reading your recipe because my family always makes arroz con leche! So it was really interesting for me to see how it can be made in a different way. I cant wait to try this with my family!

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  14. This recipe definitely has some depth to it but seems like a fun challenge! I’ve never thought of adding lime to a recipe like this. I will definitely be trying this out. Your connection to your family with this dish is really heart warming. Awesome recipe!

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  15. Growing up, I always had home made arroz de leche at my grandma's, and this made me feel somewhat nostalgic. I definitely enjoyed reading this, and am going to visit my grandma soon.

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  16. Very well detailed and easy-to-follow recipe! Thank you for sharing this with us. Hearing you describe the dish makes me really hungry and I actually really want to try it. Nice backstory with the dish too, with your family.

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