Horchata de Coco Yucateca

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Cheesecloth (enough for two layers, twice)
• •Large glass pitcher (at least 2.5 quart capacity)
• •Heavy knife or small hammer for cracking the coconut
• •Vegetable peeler for the coconut skin

Instructions

1. 1

   Steep the rice and canela

   Rinse the rice once under cold water and drain. Place it in a large bowl or glass jar with the broken canela sticks. Pour the hot, not boiling, water over the top. Hot water softens the grain and pulls the cinnamon oils without making the canela bitter. Cover and let stand at room temperature for at least six hours, preferably overnight. The rice should be soft enough to crush easily between your fingers and the water should smell unmistakably of canela. No me vengas con atajos. This is the step that makes horchata horchata.

   Use true Mexican canela, the soft, flaky bark, not the hard cassia sticks sold as cinnamon in most American supermarkets. Cassia is harsh and one-dimensional. Canela is floral and warm. If your stick snaps cleanly like a pencil, it is cassia. If it shreds into layers, it is the real thing.
2. 2

   Open the coconut

   Drain the water from the coconut through one of its eyes. Save it and drink it later or add a splash to the horchata for extra coconut flavor. Crack the shell by tapping firmly around the equator with the back of a heavy knife or a hammer until it splits. Pry the white meat out with a butter knife. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the thin brown skin clinging to the meat. The brown skin will make the horchata muddy and slightly bitter. Take the time. Chop the cleaned coconut meat into rough one-inch pieces. You should have about 2 cups.

3. 3

   Blend in batches

   Working in two batches, transfer half the soaked rice with its steeping water, half the canela pieces, and half the chopped coconut to a high-powered blender. Blend on high for two full minutes. Two minutes. Watch the clock. The mixture should be the color of cream and feel only slightly gritty between your fingers. Pour the first batch into a large pitcher and repeat with the rest. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.

4. 4

   Strain twice

   Set a fine-mesh strainer lined with two layers of damp cheesecloth over a clean pitcher or bowl. Pour the blended mixture through, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract every drop. When most of the liquid has passed, gather the cheesecloth and twist hard to wring out the last of the rice and coconut milk. Discard the solids, or save them to thicken atole. Pass the strained liquid through clean cheesecloth a second time for a silkier horchata. Yucatecan horchata should feel like silk on the tongue, never sandy.

   If your horchata still tastes gritty after two strains, your blender did not work hard enough. Run the strained liquid back through for one more minute on high and strain again. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado, they will tell you the same thing.
5. 5

   Build the peninsula finish

   Whisk the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, whole milk, vanilla, and salt into the strained horchata. This is where Yucatán parts company with the central states. Mexico City makes a thinner, water-based horchata. The peninsula adds the lecherias: condensed and evaporated milk, sometimes a touch of coconut cream. The heat in Mérida demands a richer drink. The result should be cool, creamy, sweet without being cloying, with the coconut and canela holding the foreground. Taste and adjust with more cold water if it is too thick or another spoonful of condensed milk if it needs more sweetness.

6. 6

   Chill and serve

   Refrigerate for at least two hours, ideally overnight, before serving. Horchata needs to be cold to be horchata. Stir well before pouring, the rice solids settle and the canela rises. Fill tall glasses with plenty of ice, pour the horchata over the top, and finish with a dusting of ground canela and a pinch of toasted coconut flakes if you have them. Serve alongside cochinita pibil, panuchos, or papadzules. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy a mature brown coconut from a market that turns its inventory, not a dusty one from the back of a grocery shelf. Shake it. You should hear water sloshing inside. If you hear nothing, the coconut is dried out and useless. The bagged shredded coconut at the supermarket is sweetened, oversweetened. It will ruin the balance. No me vengas con atajos.
• •True Mexican canela is sold in soft, layered bark, not the hard rolled sticks. Look for it at a Mexican grocery, a Latin spice shop, or online from a reputable Mexican importer. If you have only cassia, use half the amount. Cassia is twice as aggressive and will overpower the coconut.
• •Horchata is supposed to be sweet. It is a tropical refresco, not a health drink. Do not cut the condensed milk in half because you read somewhere that sugar is bad. You will have made something else and not horchata yucateca. Así se hace y punto.
• •If you cannot find a fresh coconut, unsweetened coconut cream (the thick stuff from a can, not coconut milk) is the only substitution I will offer. Use about 3/4 cup in place of the fresh coconut meat. It is a compromise, not an upgrade. You lose the texture and the cleaner flavor of fresh, but you keep the peninsula's intention.

Advance Preparation

• •Horchata de coco keeps in the refrigerator for up to three days in a sealed glass pitcher. The flavor deepens after the first night as the canela continues to bloom into the milk.
• •The rice and canela steep is the only step that requires real planning. Start the night before you want to serve. If you only have a few hours, use very hot water and let it steep for at least four hours; the result will be less perfumed but still good.
• •Do not freeze horchata. The dairy separates and the texture never recovers. If you have leftovers and you want to use them up, freeze it in popsicle molds with a stick of canela and a coconut flake on top. Paletas de horchata are a Yucatecan gift to a hot afternoon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)