Vegan rice pudding and candied Kaffir Lime Leaves

(For 4 portions)

For the pudding:

• 6 leaves Kaffir Lime Leaves
• 16 pieces of Anise Blossom
• 1 punnet Ghoa Cress
• 150gr round pudding rice
• 600ml soya milk
• 80gr caster sugar
• 2 gr agar agar
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Kaffir Lime Leaves syrup and candied leaves:

• 6 leaves Kaffir Lime Leaves
• 200ml water
• 100gr caster sugar

For the pudding:

• Pour 500ml of milk and the rice in a small heavy saucepan. 
• Add the caster sugar and the vinegar and cook slowly on a low to medium heat, stirring with a spoon from time to time to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. 
• Once the rice is close to be fully cooked, dilute the agar agar in the 100ml of milk left over and add it to the pan. 
• Bring to boil for 2 minutes, turn off the heat and transfer the cooked rice into 4 pudding basins. 
• Let set in a cool place for a minimum of one hour. 
• Warm up in a Bain Marie, slide out the puddings from the mould and serve with Kaffir Lime Leaves syrup, candied leaves, Ghoa Cress and Anise Blossom. 

Kaffir Lime Leaves syrup and candied leaves:

• Arrange the leaves on top of each other and cut some very fine julienne with a sharp knife. 
• Place the juliennes of the Kaffir Lime Leaves into a pan and cover with 200ml of cold water. 
• Bring to boil and let cook for 2 minutes. 
• Add the caster sugar and reduce to a syrup consistency. 
• Let the syrup cool down on its own. 
• Using tweezers, remove half of the juliennes from the syrup and lay them on a tray, ready to place in a dehydrator machine for one hour. 
• Once dried, set the “candied“ leaves aside until use. 

Recipe: Franck Pontais