Homemade rice milk. The rice milk represents, together with soy, almond and other vegetable milks, one of the options for replacing cow's milk, in the case of intolerance to it or in the event that you prefer to move towards a diet free of animal derivatives.
Il Rice milk can be prepared at home at a very low cost and much lower than that sold in supermarkets and natural products stores, usually contained in tetrapak bricks.
The rice milk on the market, even if natural, can have additions such as vegetable oils, sugars or thickeners that do not always make it appreciated. His self it is quite simple and quick, requires very few tools and attention and will guarantee you have a multi-purpose drink available to use for the preparation of sweet or savory recipes or to be consumed for breakfast. Rice milk is a source of natural sugars, vitamin A and mineral salts.
It is recommended to use organic rice to obtain a drink free of any chemical residue.
For the preparation of your rice milk you will need (doses per 1 liter):
- 50 gr of white rice of the Ribe type
- Brown sugar, rice malt or other natural sweetener to taste
- Immersion blender
- 1 pinch of fine salt
- 1 liter of water
- 1 glass bottle
- Strainer and funnel
Start with taking care of bring the water to a boil in which you will pour the rice, which will have to continue to cook for at least five to ten minutesi beyond the cooking time indicated on the package, approximately until the moment when the beans begin to pulp and are therefore very soft. At this point you can start taking action using yours immersion blender.
Depending on the cooking times and the type of rice used, it may be necessary to add more water, brought to a boil separately, to obtain a more liquid milk. Blend until the cooking water and rice are well blended. This is an operation that should take a few minutes with the blender set at medium-high power.
At this point let your rice milk cool for at least half an hour and, if you notice the presence of residues, blend again. Only when it is at room temperature I advise you to sweeten it by adding it with a teaspoon or more cane, rice or corn malt sugar.
Depending on your tastes and the use you will make of the milk, you can decide to regulate its flavor. Keep in mind, for example, if it will serve you as drink to drink for breakfast or as a snack or as a base for the preparation of creams, cakes or biscuits, with the possible addition of other sweet ingredients,
You will also be able to decide not to sweeten the rice milk at all, in case you want to use it for savory preparations, such as bechamel. In the case of savory preparations, I recommend that you replace white rice with brown rice, which will give your milk a much less sweet taste right from the start.
After you have adjusted the taste of your milk, you can move on to its bottling. I suggest you to place a colander over the funnel you will useand, in order to filter out any small residues. In general, if you have blended your rice correctly, there shouldn't be any leftovers, but if it does, don't throw it away and use it for the preparation of soups and vegetable creams or to prepare the filling for sweet pancakes.
To prepare a drink with a special taste, I recommend adding it to your rice milk one or two tablespoons of cocoa powder, to mix when the liquid is still in the pot and is still lukewarm, or to let it rest inside it half a vanilla bean during cooling. The berry must be extracted with the help of a spoon before proceeding with bottling.
Milk will be able to be stored in the refrigerator for about two to three days in a glass bottle tightly closed and can be heated in a saucepan before being drunk. If you want to get a thicker milk, the quantity of rice indicated among the ingredients can be gradually increased up to 100 grams.
