This Straightforward, Comforting Pudding Is My Go-To Dessert

Boricha—Korean toasted barley tea—is a comforting beverage irrespective of the season. Within the fall and winter, I sip on the recent tea to remain heat, and within the summertime, I get pleasure from it straight out of the fridge as a crisp, refreshing beverage. The tea has wealthy, nutty notes, with a refined sweetness and bitterness that cuts via heavy, hearty meals and lends itself effectively to desserts. 

I received the concept for this pudding one afternoon once I was craving toasted rice ice cream from Noona, a well-liked New York–based mostly ice cream model that focuses on flavors that, in line with their website, have “Asian American aptitude,” corresponding to taro, black sesame, and pandan coconut crunch.  Made with pan-roasted rice, their toasted rice ice cream is deeply earthy, with a taste not in contrast to that of boricha. I questioned what would occur if I infused milk with boricha. As a substitute of making ice cream from scratch—a challenge I didn’t really feel like taking over—I made a decision to make a boricha pudding. After making batches and batches of pudding, I lastly landed on a model that has since grow to be my go-to dessert. It’s creamy and wealthy with the nutty, grassy notes of boricha, and a contact of sugar enhances the barley’s pure sweetness.

As a result of boricha is already toasted, there was no want for me to toast it—all I needed to do was incorporate it into the pudding. The query was: How? I began by brewing a extremely concentrated cup of the finely floor barley tea and stirring that into the milk combination. This, nevertheless, proved to be a lot too bitter, and resulted in a tea that nearly tasted like espresso. I discovered that steeping the entire grains (as an alternative of finely floor barley) within the milk for half-hour—then mixing and straining it—produced a extra balanced taste. Because the strained milk combination simmers, I whisk cornstarch, sugar, and salt into it, and prepare dinner it till it’s simply thick sufficient to coat a spoon. 

Although I prefer to eat the pudding heat off the range, it’s additionally glorious chilly and topped with whipped cream. (As soon as cooled, it takes on a enjoyable, wobbly consistency.) For those who eat it heat, I like to recommend grating some darkish chocolate on prime or consuming it alongside a speculoos cookie, corresponding to Biscoff. For those who’re like my mom, a dusting of bokkeum konggaru—roasted soybean powder—is important, because it enhances the nutty notes of the boricha. 

For those who don’t really feel like topping it with something, relaxation assured that it’s going to nonetheless be scrumptious even when eaten plain. And in order for you much more boricha, serve it with a cup of heat or chilled toasted barley tea.

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