This version of che bap is a simple Vietnamese dessert made with shaved corn and glutenous rice cooked in sweet corn broth and topped with pandan flavored coconut creamed milk and roasted sesame seeds.   Hope you all enjoy!

• Prep and cook time: 1 hour
• Servings: makes about 3 quarts

Ingredients:

• 3 quarts corn broth – see note below
• 6 boiled super sweet corn
• 1 cup (or less) uncooked glutenous rice
• 1/2 cup pure cane sugar (yellow)
• 2 Tbsp sugar (white)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• water (if needed)

For the Pandan Flavored Coconut Creamed Milk

• 1 can 14 oz coconut creamed milk
• 1.5 cup pure coconut water
• 6 pandan leaves
• 1 – 2 Tbsp cornstarch + 1 Tbsp reserved coconut water
• 1/2 tsp salt

Other:

• 1/2 cup roasted sesame seeds (optional)

Notes: You can substitute coconut water with water.  Corn broth is the liquid you get from boiling corn.  I used exactly one cup of uncooked sweet rice this time and it expanded so much.  I will use less next time.

 Direction: 

1.  Make the corn broth.  Corn broth is the liquid you get from boiling corn. It’s corn season and the market was selling super sweet yellow corn so I bought 12 yellow corn.  I stripped off the husks, wash the corn, and put it all in a 12-quart pot.  Then add water to completely cover the corn. Water level is about 2 inches above surface of corn or about 6 quarts of water.  Bring water to a hard boil on high heat, then turn to medium high heat and boil the corn for 15 minutes.  Take the corn out and strain the corn broth. I reserved 3 quarts of corn broth for this recipe and freeze the remaining corn broth.

2.  Make the coconut creamed milk. I am growing pandan plants and it is striving this year in my garden.  I cut six leaves, wash it, and chop it up into small 1/2 inch pieces.   In a small sauce pan, I pour in about one cup coconut water and dump the chopped pandan leaves in.  Bring it to a boil on medium high heat for about five minutes.  Then pour in the can of coconut creamed milk with half teaspoon salt.  Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Using the empty can, pour in about half cup of coconut water along with about 1.5 Tbsp of cornstarch.  When the coconut creamed milk boils hard, drizzle in the coconut water with cornstarch mixture slowly and stirring the coconut milk at the same time.  Turn off stove.  Pour the pandan flavored coconut creamed milk through a sieve into a glass container since it is hot. Discard the pandan leaves.

3.  I rinsed the one cup of uncooked sweet or glutinous (sweet) rice three times and then cook it in my Tiger rice cooker with the corn broth level (or water) at 3/4-inchabove rice surface.

4.  While cooking the sticky rice, shave about 6 corn.   Shaving the corn means to cut through the kernel without getting too close to the cob. This is something I still need practice with. I kinda cut too close to the cob for this pictorial.

5.  In a 4-quart pot,  pour in TWO quarts of corn broth and cooked sticky rice.  Bring broth to a boil and cook on medium heat (#5 setting) for about 10 minutes.  Then add in the shaved corn kernels, pure cane (yellow) sugar and granulated (white) sugar, and half teaspoon of salt. Cook on medium for about 10 more minutes or until the sticky rice has expanded and thickens up this corn pudding.

6.  Che Bap (Vietnamese corn pudding) can be served warm, room temperature, or chilled.  Top the corn pudding off with the pandan flavored coconut cream milk and roasted sesame seeds.    The coconut cream milk needs to be chilled or heated up.  Don’t let it sit out in room temperature for too long or else it can go sour quick.  Enjoy!