Horchata is a creamy, refreshing beverage originating in Latin America, made from soaked rice and spices like cinnamon and vanilla.
Horchata
This version is lightly sweetened and perfect to accompany Mexican food on a hot day. This is our attempt to replicate the one from La Super-Rica Taqueria.
Ingredients
- 1 c. long grain rice
- 4 c. whole milk
- ½ c. sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract or paste (you can buy the vanilla paste at Trader Joe’s, or use the seeds of a vanilla bean and let the bean soak overnight)
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken into large pieces (Mexican cinnamon, not Chinese–it’s the brittle kind)
Directions
- Place the rice in a bowl with enough hot water to cover by 1 inch. Let the rice sit overnight.
- Next day, pour off the water and reserve the water. Add enough fresh water to the reserved water to make 1 cup.
- Place ½ cup of the rice water, ½ the soaked rice, and 2 cups milk in a blender. Blend until rice is all ground up. Do the same with the other half of the ingredients. Strain through 1 layer of cheesecloth.
- If it seems too thick for your taste, strain through 2 or 3 layers of cheesecloth, as desired. Add sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon stick. It is better if left overnight again to “improve,” as it gets richer in flavor. Serve over ice.