Photo: Horchata Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons rice
- 1 cup blanched almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 strips lime zest, colored part only
- 3 cups hot water, plus 4 cups cool water, divided
- Sugar, to taste, 1 to 1 1/2 cups
- Mexican vanilla extract or vanilla extract, to taste, usually about 1 teaspoon
Directions
Place the rice in a blender or spice grinder and process until thoroughly pulverized. Take your time doing this - this is a critical step and the more finely ground the rice, the better the horchata will be. Transfer to a large bowl or pitcher and add the almonds, cinnamon, and lime zest. Add about 3 cups of hot water, cover, and let stand overnight.
The next day, transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until mixture is as smooth as it will get, again taking your time to allow to get as smooth as possible. Add 2 cups additional cool water and blend again until thoroughly combined. Pour mixture through a strainer lined with 3 layers of fine cheesecloth set over a bowl, little by little, pressing on solids and stirring to help mixture pass through the cloth. The more slowly you strain the mixture, the smoother the horchata will be. Transfer to a pitcher and add 2 cups more water, until the mixture is a pleasant, smooth consistency. Add sugar and vanilla extract, to taste. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
Serve cold over ice.
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By nonameaquired_8...
Warming Globe
on July 31, 2010
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Real Horchata does not contain evaporated milk, or any other milk product. I can't tell you how many recipes I cycled through searching the internet for THEE perfect Horchata recipe. This one was the first to make sense based on what I've researched about the drink and it's origin.
If you or you have someone who is lactose intolerant (or really should be this is an outstanding treat. For a holiday twist, drop in some whole cloves! (like 1 or 2 To me, it tasted a lot like eggnog with the cloves, but without the cholesterol.
I also used a Vitamix Blender and there was a lot of rice soot at the bottom when I made it this time. However, I filtered it many times through a fine metal mesh instead of cheese cloth(didn't have any. I tried to filer it through a coffee filter with no success. After giving the cheese cloth a try, I am going to try using a french press coffee maker to see if that does the trick for that soot
By CH1214
Lexington, KY
on March 22, 2010
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When my sister and I made it, it turned out great. We augmented the recipe with some rice milk to add a little sweetness. The negative comment that I have on the Horchatta is the fact that there was a lot of residue on the bottom. Otherwise it was delicious.
By computating_127...
Midvale, 84
on March 09, 2010
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I wanted a recipe that was as good as Cafe Rio's horchata and this exceeded my expectations, the lime zest adds a nice kick! I was excited to see this recipe because it didn't contain any animal milk products like sweetened condensed milk. I was skeptical of the cheesecloth step, but I'm glad I did it because there really is a lot of grit, even with a vitamix.
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