i are what i eat: a food blog

30th November 2009

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Miami Rice Pudding Company: Don Johnson Would Approve

The days of the corner drug store, serving soda-floats, ice cream sundaes, and local desserts are gone.  In a land saturated with birthday-cake remix cups and Cherry Garcia cones, originality has taken a back seat to convenient commercial safety.  And let’s face it: that annoying tip jar sing along has got to stop!

Enter the Miami Rice Pudding Company, attempting to corner an otherwise niche dessert market of the same name.  Recently opening it’s second location in the residential area of Hoboken, this quaint shop focuses on pudding, the less prettier Jan to ice cream’s Marcia.  While chains of main-street shops haven’t been opened in the name of everything rice pudding, Miami Rice aims to change that, bringing a much different spin to the classic dessert item.

Boasting an arsenal of over 35-flavors and variations, Miami Rice delivers a wide variety of puddings that matches the imagination and versatility most only equate to ice cream.  They only feature a portion its menu on any given day, which actually proves to be helpful you decide on the ONE flavor you end up choosing.  The gentleman behind the counter was incredibly helpful, and repeatedly offered us “as many samples of anything as [we] wanted”.  While it is a common option that patrons of most establishments can exercise, it seems much more fitting in a venue that prides itself in giving pudding the entire spotlight, allowing customers to experiment and dabble in various flavors and truly test their palate in something uncommonly associated with frozen desserts.

The dynamic of our small duo could not have been better in trying the wares of Miami Rice: my sister, a self-proclaimed rice pudding nut, and I, an open-minded, will-eat-it-if-it’s-there-but-wouldn’t-go-out-of-my-way pudding weekender.  Amongst a list featuring flavors like chai tea, dulce duleche, and toasted almond, the task of making a decision was incredibly difficult.

At the recommendation of the server, I went with a cannoli rice pudding, Miami Rice’s most popular and best selling flavor.  Every spoonful had plenty of rice (naturally), which melted with every bite, and offered a nice layer to the already smoothness of the pudding.  To my surprise, it wasn’t overly starchy in taste, a to which I had previously come to associate to the dish from experiences with my stepdad’s sister’s rice pudding.  There was a good abundance of cannoli present int the pudding, giving clear notes of cream filling, accented with bits of fried shell and mini chocolate chips.  The flavors accompanied each other well, never overpowering too much as to overstate the name, while giving enough to well you’re enjoying exactaly what you ordered.

The tradionalist that she is, my sister went with the original rice pudding with a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Like my cannoli cup, the pudding had a smooth body, with a nice sweetness to it.  The cinnamon added a subtle kick of spice that spiraled the flavors together really well.

Still, and I suppose more appropriately, the rice in the pudding is what shined brightest in both flavors, and presumably in the others.  I’d imagine that most people are put off by a main ingredient in their dessert bowl is just as prominent on their dinner plate.  Miami Rice quells these fears, not only by opening a platform for discovering and testing, but delivers within the product itself.  On taste and texture alone, I can tell that preparation is not simply sprinkle and mix.  Am I bold enough to say that the proof is in the pudding?

I suppose I am.

Tagged: rice puddingdessertmiami rice pudding companycannolicinnamon