How do diners and restaurants get their rice pudding so creamy?

Oooh I love this question, and I want to hear the answer, too.

I have a feeling they use pounds and pounds of cream and butter

Best goddamn ricepudding I ever ated:

Ingredients:
¼ teaspoon table salt
1 cup medium-grain rice (white)*
2½ cups whole milk
2½ cups half-and-half
⅔ cup granulated sugar
1¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup raisins , dried cranberries, cherries, or chopped prunes or apricots
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions
1. Bring 2 cups water to boil in large, heavy-bottomed pot (at least 3 quarts) or small soup kettle (4 to 5 quarts). Stir in salt and rice; cover and simmer over low heat, stirring once or twice until water is almost fully absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Add milk, half-and-half and sugar. Increase heat to medium-high to bring to simmer, then reduce heat to maintain simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, until mixture starts to thicken, about 30 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, stirring every couple of minutes to prevent sticking and scorching, until a spoon is just able to stand up in the pudding, about 15 minutes longer.

3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract, dried fruit, and cinnamon. Cool and serve at room temperature or chilled. (Can be covered with plastic wrap on surface of pudding and then refrigerated up to 2 days.)

*You can use long-grain rice if you need to, but it won’t be as good as medium grain. Also, you can leave out the dried fruit and cinnamon if that’s not your thing. (Credit where credit is due: this is from Cook’s Illustrated.)

@Qingu Sounds yummy!. Thanks for sharing.

Most commercial rice puddings have some type of thickener.

If you’re eating in a restaurant they obviously aren’t required to list the ingredients. But if you look at the labels of grocery store rice puddings, they invariably list one or another added thickeners or stabilizers such as Caregeenan, etc.

Qingu’s recipe from CI is excellent but far too cost prohibitive for a restaurant or manufacturing plant to produce, hence the shortcut use of thickeners.

I don’t use any water when I cook mine, it’s all milk and half & half, or milk and melted ice cream.

Melted ice cream sounds good, if a trifle rich.

I think they cook it longer and at a lower tempurature.

The water brings out the rice’s flavor.