I first learned about Horchata on my adventures in Costa Rica. Horchata is a beverage made from ground nuts, seeds or grains usually mixed with cinnamon and other spices and served over ice. It is popular throughout Latin America and Spain, but each country has their own recipe. No two Horchatas are ever alike and it is up to you to find your favorite version.
When preparing a Horchata, you are basically creating a homemade almond and/or rice milk mixed with cinnamon and sugar. But I’m not talking about those rectangular cartons from the grocery store, I want you to think about a fresh, creamy refreshing drink, spiced and sweetened to perfection. Recipes range from a thinner, watery drink to a thicker, creamier milkshake like beverage, I like thick and creamy, you?
What really surprises me is why I don’t see more Horchata here in America!
Maybe we can start a new trend. All you have to do is grind some rice and place in a bowl with water, almonds and cinnamon. Let it sit for at least 8-10 hours (up to 12 hours), process in a blender, strain, add sugar to taste and enjoy. You don’t have to stop there, though. Go ahead and experiment with your favorite flavors, add nutmeg or cardamom or both. Turn it into a cocktail, it goes great with a shot of rum or whiskey.
You can even place it in a popsicle mold for a mid-afternoon treat this summer!
Make a big batch, it will go fast.
Horchata
Servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain white rice
- 2 cups almonds
- 1- inch piece cinnamon bark
- 4 cups water
- ½ cup sugar or agave plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Ice cubes
Instructions
- Wash and drain the rice.
- Using a spice grinder (an electric coffee grinder works well too), grind the rice until fine; combine with the almonds and cinnamon bark.
- Add 3½ cups water and let sit overnight, covered.
- Blend rice-almond mixture until smooth using a blender. Add 2 cups of water and continue blending.
- Add sugar and vanilla extract.
- Strain horchata into a bowl with a fine mesh sieve (I used a chinois). I don’t have a great blender, so I then put the pulp back through with 2 more cups of water and strained again.
- This should last in your fridge about 2 days. Use any extra to make Popsicles (just pour into pop molds and freeze – you might want to make these a bit sweeter as it loses some of the flavor when frozen)
- Nutrition note – This drink is overall very healthy and the less sugar you use the better, but I am not including the full information because it is hard to calculate considering all that is filtered out. Without filtering it is around 250 calories, so it should be considered a nice snack and considering the protein and fiber is a pretty good one.
Great questions, I was wondering the same thing on both accounts. There wouldn’t be any fiber difference, but there may be some extra vitamins, but my guess is negligible. There are lots of recipes on using the nutmeat that comes from making nutmilks, in this case it is a mixture of rice and nuts, but I think could work similarly. Most are for cookies. I tried one that was for raw cookies when I made a hazelnut milk and it was like a cookie dough, but I wasn’t in love with it. I just read to try adding it to a veggie burger and I could see mixing it with beans and other grains it might work. Keep me posted if you find a good option.
is the nutritional value enhanced by using brown rice? or is it negligible since it is strained? Also, is there anything that can be made with what is strained out?
We grew up drinking horchata, which is only available in Spain in the summer. In Spain it is made with “chufas”, and it is interesting to learn how horchata is made in other countries. Here’s some information about chufas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyperus_esculentus
Can I use honey instead of sugar
any kind of almonds? Chopped? Roasted? Going to make this and about to make a shopping list.