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1
Soak the Cracked Corn
Overnight (Passive)
Room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Rinse the 200 g cracked corn in a sieve, tip it into a large bowl and cover with cold water by at least 5 cm. Leave it to soak overnight, or for at least 8 hours — the kernels swell and soften, which cuts the boiling time and gives the pudding its creamy body.
Use a big bowl: the corn nearly doubles in size as it soaks.
Done when: Kernels plump and swollen, with no hard dry centres.
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2
Boil the Corn Until Tender
90 Mins
Simmering water at 100°C (212°F)
Drain the soaked corn, tip it into a large heavy pot, cover with fresh water by 5 cm and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for about 90 minutes, topping up the water when it drops, until the corn is completely tender and can be pressed flat between your fingers. Drain the corn and return it to the pot.
Keep the simmer gentle — a hard boil makes the kernels burst and go starchy.
Done when: Kernels fully tender, squashable between two fingers.
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3
Simmer in Sweet Cinnamon Milk
25 Mins
Low heat; milk just below a boil, about 90°C (194°F)
Pour the 960 ml milk over the drained corn and add the 150 g sugar, 1 g salt, 3 cinnamon sticks, 2 g cloves, the strip of lime peel and the rinsed 40 g rice. Simmer on low heat for about 25 minutes, stirring often so the milk does not catch on the bottom, until the rice is cooked and the milk has thickened around the corn.
Stir with a wooden spoon and scrape the bottom every few minutes — scorched milk ruins the whole pot.
Done when: Rice cooked through, milk thick and creamy, corn soft.
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4
Add Raisins, Butter and Nutmeg
5 Mins
Low heat, about 90°C (194°F)
Stir in the 40 g raisins and the 20 g butter, then take the pot off the heat. Fish out the cinnamon sticks and the lime peel, and stir in the 1 g nutmeg. The butter melts into the pudding and gives it a soft shine; the raisins plump in the residual heat.
Taste now and add a spoonful more sugar only if you like it sweeter — the pudding sweetens slightly as it cools.
Done when: Butter melted in, raisins plump, pudding thick enough to coat a spoon.
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5
Serve Warm with Cinnamon
5 Mins
Serving warm, about 60°C (140°F)
Ladle the chaca into bowls while it is still warm and dust each serving with a little of the 1 g ground cinnamon. Serve at once, with a spoon — it thickens as it sits, so if it firms up too much, stir in a splash of warm milk.
Chaca is best warm; cold, it sets almost like a pudding and needs milk to loosen it.
Done when: Warm bowls, cinnamon dusted on top, spoonable and creamy.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve the chaca warm, dusted with cinnamon — the contrast of the soft cracked corn, the sweet milk and the warm spice is the whole point of the dish.
Dominican Republic
3h 15m
