Serves 4

I’ve always got arborio, pudding, jasmine, basmati and brown rices in my cupboard. Rice cooking is quite an art; I love the different characteristics of each one and use them to their full capacity. On my recent trip to America, I was amazed at the number of rice cookers on the market for use at home. And, considering how good it is for you, rice is certainly something I intend to utilise further.

250g Thai jasmine rice
1 stem fresh lemon grass, slit almost in half
500ml water
½ tsp fine sea salt
100g caster sugar
200ml carton coconut cream
4 tbsp double cream

1 Put the rice, lemon grass, water and salt into a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring once or twice, then lower the heat to low, cover and simmer for 12 minutes.
2 Take off the heat and stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove the lemon grass.
3 Mix in the coconut cream, stand for 5 minutes, then add the cream. Serve warm rather than hot, adding extra cream if you like your pud runny. Serve topped with fresh fruit slices such as mango or apple.

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