Horchata

Almost every time we go up to Orlando, we end up eating at a restaurant called Beto's Mexican Restaurant on Orange Blossom Trail, near the Florida Mall.  The first time we went there, we had looked online to try to find somewhere we could get Carne Asada, which my husband wanted at the time.  He was even more excited when he saw that they had Horchata as one of their drink options.  Horchata is a Mexican drink that is a cinnamon and vanilla flavored rice milk drink.  It is delicious, and we always get a large cup for each of us when we go to Beto's.  So I decided to try to make Horchata myself, and ended up trying two recipes, both of which I will share with you today.

First, I tried a recipe that I found by Aaron Sanchez, one of the cooks I enjoy watching on the Food Network.  I tried this recipe and it was okay.  Right after I made it, we were a little too impatient to wait for it to chill, and it just tasted like dirty water.  However, after we let it chill for a couple of hours, the flavors had time to blend together and it was much better.

For this recipe, you rinse 1 cup of rice and then combine it with a cinnamon stick, broken into pieces, and 4 cups of water in your blender.  

Pulse the blender a few times to coarsely grind the rice and cinnamon stick.

Transfer to a large bowl, add 4 more cups of water, cover and soak at room temperature for 3 hours.

Then puree this mixture in the blender in batches until smooth.  Strain through cheesecloth or a fine sieve into a pitcher.

Then stir in the sugar and vanilla and chill for at least 3 hours before serving.  Mix well before serving in a glass of ice.  Garnish with ground cinnamon sprinkled on top, if desired.

The second recipe that I used was found on food.com and the author wrote a note that says, "This Horchata is the kind that is served in 'neverias' or ice-cream shops in Mexico.  It is creamy and easy to do.  Grinding the rice twice brings out all the starch and flavor. ... I do know what I'm talking about:  I'm Mexican and live in Mexico."  After making it the first time, D. and I decided that this was our favorite of the two recipes.  I have now made it a second time as well, making a gallon the second time I made it.  I made a couple of changes the second time, and D. said the changes made it even better.

First, rinse the rice and place in the blender with enough water to leave an inch above the rice.  The recipe then said to let it soak for 5-10 minutes.  I pulsed the blender about 4-5 times first to break up the rice some before soaking, but that step is optional.

Then add 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces, and 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla.  They recommend Mexican vanilla, but so far I've just used regular vanilla.  I finally found some Mexican vanilla so I'm going to try it with that next time and see if it tastes any better.

Blend this mixture until the rice and cinnamon stick are finely ground.

Strain into a large bowl (not the pitcher you want the final drink to be in) through cheesecloth or a fine sieve.

Return the ground rice to the blender and add a can of sweetened condensed milk and 2 cups of water.  Blend well again.  Discard any remaining rice.

Strain into the same bowl as the first liquid and stir to combine.  Then strain this mixture through the cheesecloth or fine sieve into your pitcher, to catch any remaining grit that may still be in the liquid.  Taste and add more water, one cup at a time, until the horchata reaches your desired sweetness.  (I added about 2 cups more water.)  Serve over ice or chill well before serving.

The second recipe was our favorite of the two, but I am including both recipes for you to decide which you like the best.  The second recipe tasted exactly like the horchata we get whenever we go to Beto's, and we liked it so much we added up the cost of the ingredients needed to make it and calculated what we would sell it for if we decided to do an horchata stand during the summer (instead of a lemonade stand).

Horchata #1

      recipe by Aaron Sanchez on foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice, rinsed

1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces

8 cups water, divided

1/2 cup sugar, or to taste

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon, to garnish (optional)

Steps:

1.  Combine rinsed rice, cinnamon stick, and 4 cups water in a blender.  Pulse to coarsely grind.

2.  Transfer to a large bowl and add 4 cups water.  Soak at room temperature for 3 hours.

3.  Puree the rice mixture in a blender in batches until smooth.  

4.  Strain through cheesecloth or a fine sieve into a pitcher.  

5.  Mix in the sugar and vanilla and chill for at least 3 hours.

6.  Stir the horchata well before serving.  Pour into ice-filled glasses.  Garnish with ground cinnamon (if desired).

Horchata #2

    http://www.food.com/recipe/agua-de-horchata-359285

Ingredients:

3/4 cup rice

1 cinnamon stick, broken in pieces

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (originally recommend Mexican vanilla)

1/2-3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

Water as needed

Steps:

1.  Rinse your rice.  Place in blender with enough water to cover the rice with an inch of water.  Pulse 4 or 5 times to break your rice up a little.  Soak for 5-10 minutes.

2.  Add broken cinnamon stick and vanilla.  Blend until finely ground.  Drain through cheesecloth or fine sieve into large bowl.

3.  Return the ground rice to the blender and add sweetened condensed milk and 2 cups water.  Blend well.  Drain into the same large bowl.

4.  Mix horchata and strain one more time into pitcher.  Discard any remaining rice.

5.  Add more water as necessary to achieve desired sweetness.

6.  Add ice or chill so the horchata is served cold.