Hot Food: Rhubarb rice pudding recipe

What is it?

It looks like rose-pink celery, but Rheum rhabarbarum is a perennial plant related to sorrel and buckwheat, at its peak in late autumn and early winter. Traditionally considered a vegetable, it was officially ratified as a fruit in the United States in 1947 because that was how most people used it. It is tantalisingly tart, and you either love it or you hate it. Right now, chefs love it.

Where is it?

At Melbourne's Union Food & Wine in Ascot Vale, rhubarb has featured on the dessert menu in a fragrant rhubarb trifle with baked custard, pomegranate jelly, and rosewater. It's now the hit of the weekend breakfast menu, teamed with hot porridge, bananas and maple syrup.

"My mum and my nan used to cook rhubarb crumbles and rhubarb puddings," says owner/chef Stuart McVeigh. "I've also used it in a savoury context, cooking it at a low temperature with garlic, thyme and bay leaf to serve with smoked bone marrow and beetroot salad. A lot of people love that, too."

At Aria, smack-dab on Circular Quay, the views of the Sydney Opera House get a new rival with a fashionably pink strawberry and rhubarb crumble souffle, topped at the table with a perfect quenelle of rhubarb gelato. "You need a strong flavour for a really great souffle because it gets diluted with the meringue, so rhubarb is perfect," says head chef Ben Turner. His tip? Poach the rhubarb gently, and stop the cooking just before the rhubarb collapses into softness.

Why do I care?

Because it's so good in pies and crumbles, on breakfast muesli, with baked ricotta or vanilla ice-cream, or cooked into a relish for duck, roast pork or sausages.

Can I do it at home?

Easy. Look for crisp, upright stalks with a good vibrant colour and trim off any leaves. They contain oxalic acid and should not be eaten.

RICE PUDDING WITH RHUBARB

The best way to cook rhubarb is to bake the stalks whole, which keeps their colour and shape. If you're in a hurry, just chop the stalks and simmer gently in a covered pan with the sugar and orange juice for five minutes. Serve warm or cool.

750g rhubarb stalks

4 tbsp soft brown sugar

4 tbsp orange juice

700ml milk

125g short grain or risotto rice

2 tbsp castor sugar

1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)

2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Wash the rhubarb and trim the stalks, discarding leaves. Arrange in a baking tray lined with baking paper, scatter with sugar and pour over the orange juice. Bake for 20 minutes or until soft. Lift the stalks onto a platter and pour the juices over the top.

2. To make the rice pudding, place milk and rice in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until tender.

3. Add castor sugar and orange blossom water, stirring well, and set aside for five minutes to cool. Spoon into glass dessert bowls. Snip the rhubarb into three-centimetre bits and pile on top, scatter with pomegranate seeds and spoon on the juices so they sink into the rice.

Serves 4

Sourcing

NSW

Aria, 1 Macquarie Street, East Circular Quay, Sydney 02 9240 2255, ariarestaurant.com

VIC

Union Food & Wine, 169 Union Road, Ascot Vale 03 9372 7566, unionfoodandwine.com