Ingredients
Instructions
In a pot, add soaked overnight and then rinsed rice with 2 cups / 1 can coconut milk, cinnamon stick, cloves and vanilla.
Cover and cook at medium high for 10 mins.
Cook 5 minutes more at low temperature.
Remove from heat and add additional 2 cups / 1 can coconut milk, cinnamon powder and maple syrup.
Serve with some chopped dates, sprinkled cinnamon and additional maple syrup if desired.
Vanilla Extract: What Does it Taste Like?
Both the culinary and cosmetics/beauty industries utilize vanilla as a flavor and smell. Vanilla has a sweet flavor with smokey and woodsy undertones. Sometimes the smell of vanilla has a sulfuric, and slightly rum-like quality. Some vanillas may be fruity, even cherry-like, depending on the type and country of origin.
You might be asking if vanilla extract is necessary in baking given how little it is often added to recipes. Absolutely! Vanilla enhances the flavor of baked goods, especially simple recipes with few ingredients like a custard, even if you only add little amounts of it to most recipes. Without it, many dishes would only taste sweet and monochromatic and lack the depth that vanilla adds.
Pure Vanilla Extract
Pure vanilla extract is made by soaking the vanilla beans in a mixture of alcohol and water. Some companies may heat the mixture to improve the extraction process and to extract more vanilla flavor from each vanilla bean. You may notice that there's a little sugar in most commercial vanilla extracts, but not much. The concentration of vanilla extracts varies from brand to brand and depends on the method of extraction and how many vanilla beans are used.
When and How to Use Vanilla Extract
The flavor of vanilla extract is already "extracted" which means it is the flavor of the bean, in liquid form, as opposed to the entire vanilla bean, which must be steeped to extract the flavor. In recipes like chocolate chip cookies, chewy oatmeal cookies, vanilla cakes, chocolate chip bundt cake, etc., vanilla extract is used. These recipes all lack a phase when a vanilla bean could be added to a component, which is what they have in common. In several of these recipes (for the cookies), there isn't even any liquid. Vanilla beans are totally unnecessary and a waste in these kinds of dishes.
Vanilla extract shouldn't be added to a mixture that will be heated on the stove because it is fragile and volatile. If you're using vanilla extract to make vanilla ice cream, add the extract after it has finished heating, not before. Some people even add vanilla essence right before churning, when the custard has cooled.
Try out some of our delicious desserts that have vanilla: Salted Caramel Instant Pot Jasmati Rice Pudding and Sticky Rice with Caramelize Bananas.
Other Rice Inspiration
For something more savory, try one of our recipes for Orzo Soup or one of our shrimp and rice recipes, or alternatively learn how to make Israeli couscous.
