Horchata…
I originally published this post almost a decade ago (2011) on my culinary stewardship blog. No, it isn’t cold here in Southern Illinois as it was when I originally posted, but it is almost Cinco de Mayo.While most of us are familiar with horchata made with rice in The Americas, other parts of the world have made versions using nuts for centuries. This version uses rice. Perhaps some of you celebrating the Battle of Puebla at home tomorrow would like to do so with a nice glass of homemade horchata…
Below is the post from the Maracuya87 blog in January 2011. ¡Disfrutan! ¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
It’s really cold here in Southern Illinois right now, and it may be a while before I can get to Costa Rica to visit. So, I decided to try to make horchata, a Central American rice and milk drink flavored with cinnamon and vanilla.
After reviewing different recipes, some calling for almond extract and vanilla extract and even crushing the cinnamon sticks, I had to take a look at what I had in stock and go from there…
This is how I made our horchata:
Ingredients:
1 cup long grain rice
1 quart warm water
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 vanilla bean pod (after vanilla has been scraped from the inside)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup vanilla sugar (or regular sugar–I keep a separate container of sugar that I throw the vanilla bean pods into after I’ve scraped out the insides in other recipes. That way it flavors the sugar.)
1/2 Tblsp. Tupperware Simple Indugence Cinnamon-Vanilla Seasoning Blend
Ice
Directions:
Place rice and warm water in the blender and blend until the rice breaks up but does not turn to powder. Pour into a pitcher with a lid and add the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean pod. Allow to sit in the refrigerator at least 5 hours (ours stayed in the fridge overnight.)
Strain the rice water into a blender, discarding rice pieces, cinnamon stick, and vanilla bean pod. Add the milk, sugar, and Cinnamon-Vanilla Blend. (If you don’t have this, use 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.) Blend until smooth and serve over ice.
