Mexican Horchata (Nailed It!)

There is a great little hole-in-the-wall in the city that we love eating at when passing through -  Nick's Crispy Tacos.  I credit Nick with a couple things, like introducing me to the most incredible steak tacos, served up *crispy* (aka: *Nick's way*) in a double-walled tortilla.  Think two corn tortillas held together with refried beans and wrapped around grass-fed beef, topped with a ladle of fresh guac. Oh. Ya.

But what I'm most grateful for is the man's fresh made horchata. 

I had never tried this traditional Mexican rice drink before going to Nick's, but once I did, I was goner.  I quickly learned that there were little tricks to getting a really good glass - like hit Nick's between 11 and 1PM, while the barrel is still fresh and not watered down from all the ice.  And always order a large!

For years I've been meaning to try making this at home, since Nick - as sweet as he is - never wanted to give out his recipe. I assumed it would be a project of trial and error, many batches over many weeks, trying to duplicate Nick's sweet, creamy flavor.  I never would have guessed that the first recipe I tried would be so spot-on.

Soaking the long grain rice overnight is as complicated as it gets. When you know it's going to taste this good, no one wants to wait.  But after that, you just throw everything in the blender and then run it through a fine-mesh sieve and pour over ice.

MEXICAN HORCHATA

1 cup long grain white rice

4 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

ice

1.)  Put rice in a small bowl, cover completely with hot water and soak overnight. 

2.)  After the rice has soaked for at least eight hours, drain the water from it.

3.)  So as not to overload a standard sized blender, you must make this in two batches.  Take half the rice and blend it with 2 cups of milk, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.

4.)  Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve.

5.)  Repeat with second half of ingredients.

6.)  Serve over ice. Garnish with cinnamon!

We are headed to our neighbors house tonight for some Sol Food delivered.  It might not be Mexican food but it's going to go great with a pitcher of horchata!