Agua Nieve de Horchata con Tuna

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Cheesecloth or a thin cotton kitchen towel
• •Ice cream maker (optional, for a denser nieve)
• •Wide shallow metal pan (if making nieve raspada by hand)
• •Tall glasses, 12 to 16 ounces
• •Long iced-tea spoons

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the rice and canela

   Rinse the rice once under cold water to wash off the loose starch. Place it in a bowl with the cinnamon stick and pour in the four cups of warm water. Cover and leave it on the counter overnight, at least eight hours. Do not skip the soak. The grains have to soften all the way through or your horchata will taste like raw rice water. The canela perfumes the soaking water and that perfume is the backbone of the drink.

   Use Mexican canela, the soft brittle bark from Sri Lanka that crumbles between your fingers. The hard, dark cassia sold in most American supermarkets is not the same spice. The flavor is sharper and almost medicinal. Asi se hace y punto.
2. 2

   Blend the horchata base

   Tip the soaked rice, the cinnamon stick, and all of the soaking water into a high-powered blender. Add the whole milk and the evaporated milk. Blend on the highest setting for a full two minutes. The blender will sound rough at first and smooth out as the rice breaks down. You want a chalky, sandy liquid, not a smoothie. The grit is the point. It strains out next.

3. 3

   Strain twice

   Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large pitcher. Line it with a piece of clean cheesecloth or a thin cotton kitchen towel. Pour the blended mixture through, gathering the cloth and squeezing out every drop. Discard the rice pulp. Now strain a second time through the fine mesh alone. Two passes is what separates a horchata you sip from a horchata you chew. Stir in the half cup of sugar, the vanilla, and the pinch of salt. Taste. The horchata should be sweet but not cloying, milky, and clearly cinnamon. Refrigerate at least two hours until very cold.

4. 4

   Peel the tunas

   Tunas have spines, even the ones at the supermarket that look bare. Hold each fruit with a kitchen towel or tongs. Slice off both ends, score the skin lengthwise from one cut end to the other, and peel back the thick magenta skin in a single piece. The flesh underneath is brilliant, almost fluorescent fuchsia. Put on gloves if your hands are sensitive. The pigment stains and the invisible glochids itch for hours.

   If you cannot find tuna roja, do not substitute the green ones and call it the same nieve. The green tunas (tunas blancas) make a paler, milder sorbet. It is a different drink. Wait for the red ones. They peak in late summer and into autumn across central Mexico.
5. 5

   Make the tuna puree

   Roughly chop the peeled tunas and drop them into the blender with the three-quarter cup of sugar, the lime juice, and the half cup of cold water. Blend until smooth, about one minute. The tuna has hard black seeds the size of peppercorns. Strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing with the back of a ladle. Discard the seeds. You should have a vibrant magenta liquid that smells faintly of melon and watermelon at once. That is the tuna. La cocina no es decoracion, es trabajo, and peeling these is the trabajo.

6. 6

   Freeze the nieve

   If you have an ice cream maker, churn the tuna puree according to the manufacturer's instructions until it reaches a soft-scoop texture, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a chilled container and freeze for at least two hours to firm up. Without a machine, pour the puree into a wide shallow metal pan and freeze. Every 30 minutes, drag a fork through the surface to break up the crystals. After three or four passes you have a nieve raspada, closer to granita than ice cream. Both are correct. The neverias of Oaxaca's zocalo make a denser version, but the home version is rougher and just as honest.

7. 7

   Build the float

   Stir the cold horchata, it separates as it sits, and pour it into tall glasses, leaving two inches at the top. Use a flat-bottomed scoop to drop a generous round of tuna nieve onto the surface. The nieve will sit on top for a moment, then start to bleed magenta streaks down through the white. That bleeding is what makes this beautiful. Dust the top with a pinch of ground canela and slide a long spoon into the glass. Serve immediately. This drink does not wait. The nieve melts faster than you think and the magic is in those first few minutes when the two layers are still distinct.

Chef Tips

• •Tunas rojas are sold in most Latin markets in late summer and early fall. They are bright magenta on the outside and stain everything they touch. If you only see green ones (tunas blancas), you are out of season. Wait. Mexican grandmothers cook with what the mercado is selling today, not what looks good on a Pinterest board.
• •Do not skip the overnight soak on the rice. A two-hour soak gives you a thin, gritty horchata that tastes raw. Eight hours minimum, and twelve is better. The canela needs the time to work into the water.
• •The horchata will separate in the glass. That is normal. Stir before pouring and stir again at the table. A glass of horchata that does not separate has been thickened with something it should not contain.
• •If you are short on time, the horchata holds three days in the refrigerator and the nieve holds two weeks in the freezer. Make both ahead and assemble at the table. No me vengas con atajos on the soak or the strain, but the assembly itself is fast.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the rice and canela the night before. This is not optional, it is the recipe.
• •The horchata can be made up to three days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Stir well before serving.
• •The tuna nieve can be made up to two weeks ahead and kept in a sealed container in the freezer. If it freezes solid, let it sit on the counter for ten minutes before scooping.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 330g)