I have three favorite drinks that I prefer to drink on a nice, warm sunny day: hibiscus water, tamarind water, and one of my all time favorites, Horchata. My family tends to make all of these drinks when the weather is warmer, and we want something other than soda at our family outings or parties.
I always wondered how my mother would make all these incredible and amazing waters, so I slowly started to pay attention when she made them. I learned the hibiscus and tamarind water first. These are pretty easy because you just put the flower or fruit pulp in water and bring to a boil to extract the flavors. It's similar to steeping tea, but you bring the water to a boil with the flower or pulp in the water to really concentrate the flavor.
The drink I really wanted to learn about was the Horchata, but I always seemed to have a hard time getting straight answers from my mom. I would ask her how much of this ingredient and how much of that ingredient she would use, and she would tell me she didn't know. I would ask her why not, and she would get mad because I would hover over her and keep asking. Then, I would get mad because I could not get a straight answer or exact measurements from her and then everyone would be mad. But that is how a lot of family recipes are. You have to learn by just tossing everything together and adjusting it to your liking. So one day, I just asked her for a list of ingredients and started experimenting. The first time was not so good, so my mother fixed it. The second attempt was better; I just had the sugar ratio off. Like the saying goes ‘Third time's the charm!”
I finally got it right, so I knew I needed to measure everything and record exact measurements so I could pass this recipe along to my friends. This Horchata is truly the nectar of the gods.
Horchata
Makes a little over a gallon
Ingredients:
2 12 oz. cans of evaporated milk
2 cups of rice flour
2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
¼ cup of vanilla
2.5 liters of cold water (85 ounces)
1 ½ cups of sugar
Ice
Equipment:
Blender
Wooden/ Plastic spoon
Big water pitcher or something big enough to hold all the liquid
- In the blender, combine evaporated milk, rice flour, cinnamon, and vanilla and blend for about three minutes.
- Pour the liquid from the blender into the pitcher. It will kind of look like really wet thick sand.
- Add the water and sugar and give it a stir until it is fully mixed together.
- Let sit for 2-4 minutes in order for the rice mixture to settle to the bottom of the pitcher
- At this point if you think it needs more sugar, go ahead and add a bit more. You want the drink to be on the sweeter side because when you add the ice, it will melt and dilute the drink.
- Serve into glass and enjoy.
Recipes are meant to be shared and enjoyed, so hopefully you will make good use of this recipe as much as my family does. If you would love more Mexican recipes, The Chopping Block's Taqueria D.I.Y. cooking class is coming up at Lincoln Square in April.
