Arroz con Leche Norteño

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart pot with a thick bottom
• •Wooden spoon for stirring
• •Small heavy skillet for toasting the pecans
• •Fine-mesh strainer (if straining the canela and lime peel)

Instructions

1. 1

   Soften the rice

   Rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs almost clear. Drain. In a heavy 4-quart pot, combine the rice, the 3 cups of water, the canela sticks, the strip of lime peel, and the pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then drop to a low simmer. Cook uncovered for about 18 minutes, until the rice is tender and almost all the water is gone. You are not making rice. You are softening the grain so it surrenders when the milk goes in.

   Use Mexican canela, the soft bark that crumbles between your fingers. Cassia, the hard bark sold as cinnamon in most American supermarkets, is a different spice and it will fight the dish instead of carrying it.
2. 2

   Build the dairy base

   Pour in the whole milk, the evaporated milk, the chopped piloncillo, and the scraped vanilla bean with its seeds. If you are using extract, hold it back for now. Stir gently with a wooden spoon to dissolve the piloncillo. Bring the pot to a bare simmer over medium heat. Never let it boil. Boiled milk scorches at the bottom and the whole pot tastes burned.

3. 3

   Simmer slow and stir often

   Cook at the lowest simmer that still moves the milk, partially covered, for 35 to 45 minutes. Stir every three or four minutes with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom each time. The mixture will thicken slowly as the rice releases its starch and the milk reduces. You want a loose, creamy consistency, not a stiff porridge. It tightens as it cools, so pull it off the heat while it still moves easily off the spoon.

   No me vengas con atajos. This is not the dish to walk away from. The northern version is richer than the central one and the higher fat content means it will catch on the bottom faster if you stop stirring.
4. 4

   Toast the Sonoran pecans

   While the arroz simmers, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the pecans and a pinch of ground canela. Toast for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until the pecans smell sweet and nutty and turn a shade darker. Sonora and Chihuahua are pecan country. The nuts from there are sweet and oily, and toasting them in butter pulls that oil to the surface. Pull them off the heat the moment they smell done. Burned pecans turn bitter and there is no recovering them.

5. 5

   Temper the yolks

   In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sweetened condensed milk until smooth. When the rice mixture is thick and creamy, ladle about one cup of the hot milk into the yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly. This warms the yolks without scrambling them. Pour the tempered mixture back into the pot, stirring as you go. Cook for two more minutes over very low heat, stirring without stopping. The yolks give this northern version the body and color that sets it apart from the lighter central Mexican arroz con leche. Asi se hace y punto.

6. 6

   Finish and rest

   Remove from the heat. Fish out the canela sticks, the lime peel, and the spent vanilla pod. If you used vanilla extract instead of a bean, stir it in now. Taste for sweetness. Piloncillo varies cone to cone, so add a little more chopped piloncillo melted into a splash of hot water if it needs lift. Let the arroz rest for 10 minutes off the heat. It will thicken as it sits.

7. 7

   Serve warm or cold

   Ladle into clay bowls or wide ceramic cups. Crown each serving with the toasted pecans and a heavy dusting of ground canela. Raisins on the side for those who want them, not stirred in. Northern households serve this warm in winter and cold in summer, both from the same pot. The cold version sets a little, the warm version is looser. Both are correct.

Chef Tips

• •Piloncillo is non-negotiable for the right flavor. The unrefined cane sugar carries molasses notes that white sugar and even dark brown sugar only approximate. If you can find it, use it. If you cannot, dark brown sugar is a compromise, not an upgrade, and you will taste the difference.
• •Mexican canela (Ceylon cinnamon) is soft, papery bark that crumbles between your fingers. Cassia, the hard bark sold as cinnamon in most American supermarkets, is a different spice and it will overwhelm the dish. Look for canela at a Mexican mercado or any Latin grocery. It costs less than the supermarket cassia and it is the right thing.
• •Buy whole pecan halves, not pieces, and toast them yourself. Pre-roasted, pre-salted pecans will ruin this dish. If you can find pecans labeled from Sonora, Chihuahua, or Coahuila, take them. The northern Mexican pecan is sweeter and oilier than most American varieties.
• •Long-grain rice gives you the right texture. Short-grain rice or arborio will turn this into something closer to a rice porridge, which is not what northern arroz con leche is supposed to be.

Advance Preparation

• •Arroz con leche keeps in the refrigerator for up to four days. It thickens considerably as it cools, so loosen it with a splash of warm milk before serving if you prefer it loose.
• •Toast the pecans up to a week ahead and store them in a sealed jar at room temperature. Add them at serving time so they stay crisp on top of the pudding.
• •Do not freeze. The dairy separates and the rice texture turns grainy when thawed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 200g)