Traditional Mexican Horchata | A Step by Step Recipe | Muy Delish (2024)

FAQs

How was horchata originally made? ›

The original horchata from Valencia, Spain is made from chufa, or tiger nuts, water, sugar and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon. Tiger nuts didn't grow in the Americas when the Spanish arrived, so the Spanish used different nuts, seeds and grains to recreate horchata in their colonies.

Mexican horchata is made with rice while Spanish horchata is made with tiger nuts. Both soak the base ingredient in water to hydrate them and make them softer. Then you blend the softened rice/tiger nuts with water and strain the mixture.

Long-Grain Jasmine Rice Makes A Great Horchata Base

Basmati and jasmine rice are both types of long-grain white rice, but jasmine rice is a slightly better fit due to its plump, pliant texture and slightly sweet taste.

What is Horchata made of? The ingredients in horchata are really simple. Authentic horchata is made with water, rice, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla. This easy horchata recipe has a great balance of creamy rice and cinnamon flavor, with just enough vanilla to round things out.

Horchata (pronounced or-CHAH-tah) is a popular Mexican drink that is often described as a sweet rice milk beverage. Horchata is made out of rice, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon and is served in many Mexican restaurants.

noun. hor·​cha·​ta (h)ȯr-ˈchä-tə plural horchatas. : a cold sweetened beverage made from ground rice or almonds and usually flavorings such as cinnamon or vanilla.

The drink originated in North Africa, and it is estimated that during the 11th century, it began to spread throughout Hispania (now Spain and Portugal). There are 13th-century records of a horchata-like beverage made near Valencia, where it remains a common drink.

Horchata de chufa originated in North Africa around 2400 B.C, and with the Roman conquest of Egypt, the drink was dubbed “hordeata.” The drink was heralded for its “cooling quality” and it was recommended that people drink the barley water drink on hot days, to lower fevers, and to feed it to babies when they fussed.

It originated in Spain as a nut beverage (horchata de chufa, made of tiger nuts) but when imported to the Americas, it quickly transformed into the Mexican rice horchata, its most commonly known form.

Horchata de chufa originated in North Africa around 2400 B.C, and with the Roman conquest of Egypt, the drink was dubbed “hordeata.” The drink was heralded for its “cooling quality” and it was recommended that people drink the barley water drink on hot days, to lower fevers, and to feed it to babies when they fussed.

What is Morro in horchata? ›

The drink, which some in Nicaragua refer to as horchata, is similar to its Mexican and El Salvador counterparts in that it combines both morro seeds (known in Nicaragua as jicaro seeds) and rice in the recipe. Sometimes cinnamon and vanilla are added for flavor and milk is used instead of water.

Rinse the rice thoroughly and put it in a medium sized container.

In starchy horchatas, the starch grains are detectable on the tongue; so a rice (or barley or other grains with which you choose to experiment) horchata will always be a little grittier, a little less creamy, and more likely to settle out than one based on fattier nuts or seeds.

Strain through a triple-layered cheese cloth AND a fine mesh strainer. This step is very important- you do not want a grainy horchata! Squeeze out all the liquid, then discard the remaining grains. Add the evaporated milk and condensed milk and stir well.

Some recipes say to use cooked rice and that it avoids a gritty texture. I assumed horchatas were made with soaked cooked rice for the same reason. But the majority of recipes say to soak raw rice before blending.

Horchata is also full of vitamins and other nutrients the body craves. It is a source of vitamins C and E, and is also rich in minerals like calcium, magnesium, and iron. Most recipes are dairy and gluten-free, ensuring horchata is easy on the stomach.

On a molecular level, horchata-making is about grinding, soaking and blending rice, almonds, seeds, chufas, etc. to encourage their fat, starch and/or protein molecules to migrate into the water you're blending them with, and to float there as a thickened, milky-creamy mixture known as a suspension.

Horchata de Chufa, one of Spain's most famous non-alcoholic drinks, is originally from the southwestern region of Valencia. It's made from ground chufa nuts ('tigernuts' in English), which aren't actually nuts at all – they're the roots of a wetland plant called a sedge.