Preparation time 20mins
Equipment needed 2 saucepans; 1 frying pan
The Poaching Syrup
600ml water
150g caster sugar
A squeeze of lemon juice
The Rice
200g pudding rice
560ml semi-skimmed milk (1 pint)
100ml coconut milk
70g sugar
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped from the pod
1tsp sunflower oil
4 pears, comice are best, ripe but not over ripe
2tbsps caster sugar
Instructions
1 Add all the ingredients of the poaching syrup to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, peel and halve the pears before adding them to the syrup. They should take 5-8mins at a simmer.
2 Now rinse the rice in ice cold water to remove excess starch. In a saucepan, on a low heat, cook the rice with the milk, cocnut milk, sugar and the vanilla pod and its seeds. This will take approx 15mins and will need an occasional stir.
3 While the rice is cooking, drain the pears and sprinkle them with caster sugar.
4 Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the pears. Caramelise them until golden.
5 Place the cooked rice into bowls and top them with the pears. If you want to make a sauce to drizzle over the pears, add 4tbsps of water to the hot pan and re-boil.