Make Fresh and Delicious Horchata de Arroz at Home

Horchata de Arroz sounds quite exotic, right? But exotic does not mean that it isn't tasty or easy to make. Anyone familiar with traditional Mexican cuisine has heard of this rice-based drink that is sweet, smooth, and refreshing and that can be made with five simple ingredients. This drink delights from the youngest to the eldest and is very common in typical restaurants, served as an appetizer, during the meal, or even as a dessert.

Mexican Culture and Cuisine

Mexico has a myriad of dishes that reflect the different historical periods like the precolonial, the colonial, and the contemporary periods. Although recipes keep many features of pre-Columbian Mexican cuisine that make them unique, it was impossible for those ancient recipes to remain unaltered. This is because, during the colonial period, many ingredients from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa were introduced to Mexico by the Spanish. One of these ingredients is rice. In fact, Mexicans learned, among many other things, how to cook white rice from the Spanish people who settled there over time. So, it is by no means accidental that rice expanded not only through Mexico but across the whole American continent during the following centuries. Using rice in meals is recommended for many benefits, one of them being the nutrients provided which have anti-inflammatory properties and help regulate the digestive system as well as strengthen the immune system and bones.

How Rice Became Mexican

Rice is a staple food in China, where the first crops were found more than 5,000 years ago. Later, rice cultivation spread to Europe when the Moors conquered Spain, expanded in the old world, and by the nineteenth century had reached all continents. In Mexico, rice has become quite important, so much so that it is one of the main ingredients of many typical Mexican dishes. This versatile ingredient can be prepared in different ways—we can even drink it in the shape of a traditional beverage like horchata. The first type of horchata was made from tiger nuts (aka earth almond, Cyperus esculentus) in Spain, particularly the Valencian Community. Over time, and as it spread to other countries, tiger nuts would be replaced by ingredients like almonds or rice, resulting in different types of horchata. Horchata de arroz is one of the most popular drinks in Mexico, after lemon water and tamarind water, and you can find it in many stands, taquerias, fondas, or fast food business, You can even try to make it at home.

Horchata de Arroz: Few Ingredients, Lots of Flavor

Ingredients

1 cup white rice
8 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. of vanilla

Preparation

Pour 4 cups of water in a blender, add the rice and the cinnamon stick.
Mix until the rice is ground into a smooth paste.
Pour this into a large bowl and let the grains soak for at least 4 hours at room temperature. You can also soak overnight and prepare it the next day.
Mix again until it is smooth, light, and homogeneous. Use a fine mesh strainer to strain the mix into a bowl.
Add the remaining water, sugar, and vanilla. Stir until sugar is dissolved, and refrigerate until completely cooled.
Stir the horchata before serving and garnish with a cinnamon stick or cinnamon powder.

Helpful Tips

You can keep the horchata for up to 2 days in the fridge.
Although you surely have all these ingredients at home, to make a drink with exceptional flavor and texture, it is important that you choose quality ingredients. You can use cinnamon powder, but for a more authentic aroma and flavor, we recommend using fresh whole cinnamon sticks—or both.
Milk can be used instead of water. This way, its texture will be smoother and silkier. For a vegetable drink, use coconut milk or almond milk to achive an end result that will be just as delicious.
The sugar can be pulverized or granulated; and to enhance the flavor even more, add vanilla drops.