I stopped drinking cow milk in eighth grade because I didn’t like the way it felt like it was thickening my phlegm, which was of major concern due to my obsession with voice. I tried almond milk a little while later, which was fine but sometimes developed small lumps, and much later rice milk, which I found to be pretty delicious.
After going off gluten I discovered that my favorite chocolate rice milk is not necessarily gluten-free. I asked the internet how rice milk is made and found out it wasn’t difficult, and so I set off to make my first batch. I didn’t have a blender at the time so I foolishly tried using my food processor in its stead. Please do not try this in your own kitchen unless you want a mess…
The attempt turned out okay, but the consistency and appearance of the rice milk was a little … questionable.
I have since acquired a blender, but it took me until nearly a full year later to decide to definitely try making rice milk again. This time I used Healthy Vegan Recipes’ recipe for Rice Milk, which worked out quite well. The process seems to be about the same as what I tried last time (I don’t remember whose recipe I used then), but using a blender and a lot more water helped make the rice milk not disturbing this time around.
If your pot and lid are anything like mine, please be aware that the rice will bubble up and lift up the lid, pouring some liquid down the sides of your pot, releasing quite a lot of steam, and if you’re as unlucky (and inattentive) as I was, you may have a small mess of rice goop fall inside your stove. Perhaps I did not turn the temperature down low enough when I set the rice to simmer? It was a bit of a mess, but the milk turned out well anyway. I had to use 3 parts water to 1 part rice substance when I blended to achieve a milky consistency (which I did by doing the 1-to-1 blend to make rice “cream” and then hand-blended 1 part rice cream to 1 part water again to make the milk consistency when I wanted it).
I also tried some flavoring – I used spring honey in one, maple syrup in another, and vanilla extract in a third. The maple syrup was my favorite of these three, as it subtly sweetened the milk and lightly flavored it, while still not taking away the milk quality. Honey was too weak at first, and when I added more it became too intense and sweet. Vanilla was the worst, as with very little vanilla it was quite over-powering. I could see a combination of maple syrup and vanilla working out alright (or even maple syrup and honey, to muddle both of the flavors). I didn’t make the milk for drinking, however, so I left most of it unsweetened and unflavored. I primarily use it to make my hot cereal a little creamier, and last night I put a bit on some dry cereal and that was fantastic – I forgot how nice milk on cereal can be. I’d be curious to do some baking with the rice milk as well – particularly cakes and frostings – but I haven’t yet.