Horchata

[Singing Bear]

Anyone got a recipe for horchata using rice flour? 

All the recipe's I've found online use regular rice that needs to be ground first, then strained.   I've made Korean shikye a few times and I'm not looking forward to doing more straining.  I don't make shikye anymore, but I'd like to try making my own horchata.

Aside from MAYBE getting away from straining, I'd like to try making sugar free horchata.  The commercial stuff I can get here is way too sweet and so are the drink mixes I found online.

When was this stuff introduced?  I do know that it came from Spain and they origianally used somekind of nut.  Rice was used as a sub since that particular nut was not common in Central America.

Thanks for any help.   

[Delmonico]

Singing Bear my friend I have to say I don't know, in fact other tham it sounds like a drink I'm not even sure what it is.

But you know how to get me off on another search adventure.

[Singing Bear]

Whoa!  I actually got Del stymied?     That's gotta be a first. 

Horchata is a Mexican rice drink flavored with cinnamon and sometimes vanilla.  I've found commercial stuff in strawberry and I've read that there is also a chocolate flavored brand.  Some also use milk and all have a lot of sugar.  Way too much if one has type 2, because this stuff is way to easy to drink a lot of especially ice cold. 

To make homemade horchata, one needs to run some uncooked rice in a processor until it's almost a powder.  Then it's mixed with water for a few hours then strained.  I recently saw something about it on Unwrapped on the Food Network.  The commercial makers use rice flour and I also saw some reference to the use of rice flour on a website, but no recipe.   It was also mentioned that Horchata has taken on a lot of popularity across the mainland and is actually a trendy drink in Manhattan.   

The stuff is great when serving spicy Mexican food as it acts like milk in neutralizing the effects of capsicum (?).  The heat in chili peppers.

My wife has been making more Mexican food lately and I thought it'd be great to serve horchata to my daughter, but there's simply way too much sugar in the stuff I can get.   That's why I want to try making my own and use some of that big bag of Splenda we have in the cupboard.     It's actually no good for baking the kind of cookies we like, so I'd like to use it for sweetening drinks instead.  I'm just hoping to avoid all that straining again.   

[Delmonico]

OK, that shook loose some cob webs, since your are basically making rice flour in the proccesor I would just try the rice flour instead of your own ground stuff, wouldn't loose much by trying.

[Singing Bear]

Oopppphhhtttt!  DUuuuuUUH!  Thanks Del.  Don't know why that didn't even cross my mind.  We're going shopping at a local Japanese market tom'w and will pick some up and give it a try.      Probably still gotta do some straining anyway, but what the heck.  Mahalo, Del.   

[Forty Rod]

I like cinnamon horchata and the vanilla iasn't too bad if you use enough vanilla.  Can't stand the chocolate, and I normally like chocolate.  My friend's wife is Mexican and she turns up lots of flavors.  I like nutmeg.  And banana.  She makes some cocoanut that isn't half bad.  The fruit flavors are universally nasty except for the banana.

IMHO, that is.

All of them have to be ice cold. 

Saw some coffee flavored, but haven't tried it yet.

[Spanish Marshal]

  Hello from Spain::

Horchata is a typical drink of the area of Valencia in Spain and of this whole area of the Spanish mediterranean.   

This beverage is made with a small tuber, tiger nut. We drink it very cold and especially in summer. It´s very good for the thirst because it has many mineral salts . It is delicious in summer.

  Spanish Marshal

[Singing Bear]

Woohooo!  Someone from the "source".   Thanks for the input, SM. 

Forty, I'll probably be sticking to the basics, although coffee flavor sounds a might interesting.    Thanks for your input on flavors. 

Stopped by our local Down to Earth health food store today and picked up some white rice flour.  I forgot to look for it when I went to that Japanese market.    Just so happened that the clerk that helped me just returned from a trip to Spain.  Said Horchata is about all he drank while there and that he enjoyed every drop. 

[Delmonico]

I get some of my supplies from the local heath food coop, I'm not a member so I pay full price.   The clerks are really nice to me, but some of the customers give me a wide berth.  Heck I have never worn my spurs or gun inta the place.  Durn skittish Yuppies.

[Singing Bear]

Hey, Del, they be hardcore  vegans.  They can smell the meat on us omnivores.    Kinda like smokers and smokers who've quit.  The latter can't stand the smell anymore and get psycho about it.  BTDT.  Dad is still like that after having quite some 40 years ago.   

[Singing Bear]

Well I gave it a try today and made a quart.  I was getting dissappointed at the outcome as it wasn't looking like the stuff we bought at the market.  Then I realized that some of the recipe sites referred to horchata as a "rice water".  The commercial stuff contains milk to make it more opaque and creamy.  Used a little almond, vanilla extract and cinnamon and 1/4 c of splenda sweetener.  It sweetened up nicely, but even a 1/4 tsp of almond extract was too much. 

Our Mel liked it.  The wife was like me until I told her about this being a rice water.  Then she drank the rest and said that it wasn't bad, keeping in mind that it isn't supposed to be milky.  Makes a nice fat free, sugar free beverage. 

Gonna try another batch using whole rice ground in a food processor instead. 

[Singing Bear]

Okay.........
1/2 C raw rice ground fairly fine in a food processor
1 qt. water
cinnamon, as much as you like
2 tsp. real vanilla extract
1/4 C Splenda.  More if you've got a real sweet tooth.
1/2 C powdered milk.  I use Milkman.

Sorry about the milk.  The wife and daughter got spoiled by the commercial stuff. 
You can leave it out if you want.  It just won't be as rich and smooth.

I let the rice and cinnamon soak in the water for about 4 hours.  Some recipes call for overnight.  Some for only a couple of hours.  I figure overnight would be best.  I got more rice flavor from the ground rice than the rice flour.  Good thing the flour cost me less than $2.  Don't know what to do with the rest.    Also, some recipes call for a couple of cinnamon sticks instead of the ground type.

Strain the mixture through cheese cloth and I added Splenda, vanilla and powdered milk.
Put it back in the refrigerator to chill.  Serve over ice.

Except for the carbs, this is good to go for us type 2 cowboys.   

Had it tonight with some homemade chili.  Pretty darned good.