This one was fun—almost enough to make me miss restaurant life. Almost. The twelve-hour shifts, the endless cycle of mixing, baking, cleaning, fighting for space, plating desserts while having a mental breakdown in the walk-in over how little I’m paid and how toxic the environment is... well, maybe not.
I wanted to challenge myself by making an entire dessert with five-spice. Like rose water, it has the potential to overpower and ruin a dish if not used carefully, so I had to be smart about it. Less is more, I reminded myself—while another voice insisted, or is it… what if more is more?
Full disclosure: I’d never worked with glutinous rice before. I’d also never made rice pudding. This was new terrain, riddled with landmines. I think I made it through unscathed? Apart from that moment when the heavy cream hurled itself out of the container in an attempt on my life.
While researching how to use glutinous rice, I kept coming across the same advice: soak it for at least four to five hours. My immediate thought? Have you met me? I rinsed it a couple of times and called it a day. If I were to make it again, I’d probably give soaking a shot—it took some tweaking to get the rice fully cooked without it. It reminded me of making beans.
The braised pineapple had been sitting in my fridge, and I’d been reheating it and eating it by the spoonful in the dead of night like some kind of pervert. It really is that good. If you don’t have a smoker—and let’s be real, you probably don’t, unless you also hoard kitchen equipment to the point of needing a storage unit—don’t worry. It’s a subtle but mysteriously delicious addition to the flavor, but the dessert will hold up just fine without it. You could try liquid smoke, but if you do, tread lightly. A little goes a long way, and I can’t guarantee how the flavor will play out.
As for the sesame brittle, I tend to keep mine simple. Sometimes I use baking soda and butter to aerate the mixture, but not this time. You could get away with adding a little extra sesame seed if you’re feeling wild.
Now, the ice cream. First off, don’t store it in a Whirlpool fridge (make a mental note to send Whirlpool a letter of complaint about how their appliances just don’t work). The stabilizer in this recipe ensures a soft, scoopable texture with fewer ice crystals, but you can make it without it. Just know it might be firmer than you’d like—nothing a little tempering at room temp won’t fix. Alternatively, you can blend in ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum before churning, or mix 12 grams of cornstarch with a couple tablespoons of cold milk, whisk it smooth, and add it to the simmering base.
I was actually surprised by how much I liked this dessert. Five-spice isn’t always my thing, and I struggle with working ingredients I don’t personally love. The last time I had to use it was back when I was a pastry chef in New Orleans. The chef insisted—no, demanded—that I make a plum sorbet instead of whatever it was I wanted to do at the time. And, to make things worse, she told me to add five-spice. I didn’t want to, but I did.
I wish I hadn’t.
Not long after, I sat down with management, sales reports in hand, ready to show them how much money my desserts had made compared to the last pastry chef. They looked me in the eye and said, “This doesn’t really show me anything. I want you to do more.” I didn’t get the raise. The next day, the restaurant got a brand-new patio set. I quit shortly after that. Right after the chef de cuisine told me that naming the special ice cream “strawberry rocky road,” a strawberry ice cream with Marcona almonds and marshmallow fluff—was stupid.
Anyway—back to the Key Ingredient.
This recipe takes a little time, but it’s one of the best things I’ve made lately. If you have leftover rice pudding, store it in the fridge and reheat it in the microwave or on the stove with a little water or milk to loosen it up.
This recipe is well worth your time. And if you find yourself standing in the kitchen at 2 AM, bathed in the eerie glow of the fridge, eating it straight from the container like a feral goblin—congratulations, you’re one of us now.
