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1
Combine the full-fat milk, evaporated milk, and condensed milk in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat. Add the cinnamon stick, cloves, and orange peel. Bring the liquid slowly to a bare simmer, stirring to prevent a skin from forming. The milk should be fragrant with cinnamon and orange before proceeding — the aromatics must perfume the fat.
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2
Add the short-grain rice to the aromatic milk. Stir to distribute. This is where the dish lives or dies: maintain the heat at its lowest possible setting and stir frequently throughout the entire cook. The combined milk solids and lactose sugars scorch swiftly on the base of the pan; any neglect at this stage will taint the pudding irreparably with a burnt flavour that no subsequent addition can mask.
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3
Continue cooking and stirring until the rice has absorbed the liquid and the pudding moves as a single, slowly falling mass when the spoon is drawn through it. The starch released from the short-grain rice will have bound the three milks into a cohesive, creamy, slightly sticky consistency. The colour will have deepened toward ivory.
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4
Remove the cinnamon stick, cloves, and orange peel. Taste: the pudding should carry a pronounced caramelised sweetness from the condensed milk, with warm spice and a clean citrus note in the finish. Adjust by further reduction if the texture remains too loose.
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5
Pour or spoon into individual bowls or a serving dish. The surface should hold a slight sheen from the milk fat and settle without spreading rapidly — this indicates the correct set. Serve warm or at room temperature.