One of the best things about being Filipino? Rice. Even better: rice desserts.
Champorado is every Filipino’s favorite treat. It’s our version of a sweet breakfast. But what happens when you take this beloved dish and combine it with the internet’s current food obsession?
If you’ve tried adding peanut butter to champorado, you know it’s good. And it works with other nuts. Here, a homemade roasted pistachio cream plus chopped roasted pistachios and kataifi transform your humble bowl into the viral Dubai chocolate bar. Same indulgence, less fuss, and all of the hype.
What is Dubai chocolate?
Technically, it’s not called Dubai chocolate—that’s just how it went viral. The original chocolate bar, called “Can’t Get Knafeh of It” was released by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in 2022. Its creation was inspired by owner Sarah Hamouda’s pregnancy cravings, which called for pistachios and crunchy kataifi. Filipino pastry chef Nouel Catis developed the original recipe.
More than just a passing food trend, the chocolate bar is popular for good reason. Gooey, smooth pistachio cream with extra crunchy kataifi mixed in, encased in rich milk chocolate that cracks open to reveal the green goodness inside. It’s sweet, nutty, chocolatey, and crunchy, all in one bite.
The champorado: Keep it simple
This version of champorado stays true to its roots. Our recipe keeps it simple with just three ingredients: tablea, rice, and water.
Adding jasmine rice to malagkit rice adds another layer of texture, giving you fluffy grains in contrast to the chewy malagkit rice.
We use water instead of milk since it’s easier, but feel free to use pistachio milk if you’re feeling fancy! It’ll help bring out the pistachio flavor even more.
The pistachio cream: Make it at home!
The bright green pistachio cream is the undeniable star of the Dubai chocolate bar. But don't confuse pistachio cream with pistachio butter!
Pistachio butter is just blended nuts, whereas the cream includes other ingredients like sugar and white chocolate, making it sweeter, richer, and more fluid—perfect to act as a proxy of sorts for champorado's condensed milk.
While you might be tempted to use store-bought pistachio spread, homemade cream is worth the extra effort. It’s richer, more flavorful, and uses up less effort than scouring Shopee for Pisti resellers.
Tip: Although tedious, peeling off the red-brown skins of the pistachios helps achieve that bright green hue.
Kataifi, or kadayif: Sub with anything crunchy
Knafeh is a popular Middle-Eastern dessert, while kataifi or kadayif is the ingredient used to make it. What is it exactly?
Kataifi is shredded phyllo pastry shaped like vermicelli noodles. It’s responsible for the chocolate bar’s signature ASMR-worthy bites. To prepare, you chop it up and toast in a pan with butter until golden.
In case you can’t find this specialty ingredient, you can still have that satisfying texture by adding anything you like as long as it’s crunchy—toasted pinipig, crushed pistachio praline, even crispy dilis! Just don't try to use raw or fried pancit bihon!
Ingredients
Champorado
- ¼ cup malagkit rice
- ½ cup jasmine rice
- 4 cups water
- 4-5 pieces unsweetened tablea
- 1 tbsp sugar
Pistachio Cream
- 1 cup (150g) unsalted raw pistachios, shelled, more for serving
- ¾ cup milk or all-purpose cream, divided
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup (about 4oz) white chocolate
- 1 tbsp white or powdered sugar
- salt
For Serving
- Pistachio Cream
- kataifi or something crunchy, like toasted pinipig
- chopped roasted pistachios
Cook rice: Add uncooked rice and water in a large pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to prevent clumping. Once boiling, stir again to break up clumps of rice. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 10-15 minutes or until rice is tender.
Once the rice is tender, increase the heat to high. Stir the rice vigorously to break up the grains and release the starches until mixture is thick and creamy, about 10 minutes.
Add tablea: Reduce heat to medium and break the tablea into the rice. Stir until tablea is completely dissolved and distributed. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Toast pistachios: Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add pistachios. Stir frequently to toast evenly until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer toasted pistachios to a plate to cool. Reserve a few pistachios for serving later.
Melt white chocolate: Heat a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add half of the milk or cream, and all of the butter. Stir until butter has melted into the warm milk. Add white chocolate and stir constantly until fully melted and incorporated into the milk mixture. This step can be done in the microwave with a microwave-safe bowl and 15-second bursts.
Make pistachio cream: Add roasted pistachios, remaining milk or cream, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Blitz, pausing to scrape down the sides every now and then, to break pistachios and turn into a paste, about 5 minutes.
Add white chocolate mixture and blend until smooth and creamy. The longer you blend, the smoother the cream becomes.
Serve: Ladle champorado into individual serving bowls. Drizzle with pistachio cream as you would with condensed milk. Top with kataifi and chopped toasted pistachio. Serve warm with extra pistachio cream—it's the best part.
Notes
Kataifi or kadayif is a Middle Eastern pastry of shredded phyllo dough that resembles vermicelli noodles.
Kataifi is hard to source in the Philippines and challenging to make from scratch (tip: fried pancit bihon will not work). If you can't find it, don't let that stop you from trying this recipe with a crunchy proxy: toasted pinipig, rice crispies, even a chopped pistachio praline. Or skip it—the homemade pistachio cream is the best part, honestly!
