Baked lychee risotto pudding

"Taste like rose water!" It's a comment from an Eastern European lady after her first taste of lychee. Although I haven't tasted rose water, I believe she isn't wrong! Lychee, a summer fruit in South-east Asia, has an intensive floral fragrance. So I came up with the idea (and its result is terrific!!!) of adding a bit of lychee scent in this baked pudding, which consisted of a soft layer of egg custard on top, and an al dente layer of risotto at the bottom. Don't worry of where getting lychee (for this dish) in your area, I just used the can which should be widely distributed at every Asian grocery store in many countries. Recipe of baked lychee risotto pudding

(yield 6 - 7 cups... I used regular size of Chinese tea cups)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Italian short grain rice
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of lychee syrup (from 20 oz/565 g can of lychee in syrup, use the liquid)
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 2 pinches of salt
• 3 lychee, finely diced
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup lychee syrup

Directions:

• Heat the rice, water and 1 cup of syrup to boil, cover, and simmer for 13 minutes. Drain immediately and let cool
• In a big mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and salt until pale (can see the volume slight increases). Gently stir in milk, 1/4 cup syrup, risotto and lychee.
• The pudding will be baked in a water bath. So please boil a big pot of water, and prepare a 10x15" tray with the 1.5" - 2" tall sides.
• Preheat the oven between 325-350F, ladle the mixture into cups (pre-buttered), place them into the tray and send to oven, fill the tray with an inch of boiling water. Bake until the puddling "just" slightly firm to touch, about 25 - 30 minutes.
• Best to eat the puddings when they're hot/warm. If you have to refrigerate them, reheat them at 325F for a while before serve.

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