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Does a slice of chocolate cake or fresh baked cookies make you reach for a cold glass of milk?
Not me - I'm not a dairy girl. For me, milk is a vehicle for cereal and a necessary ingredient to get a smoothie moving along in the blender. It's for cooling down hot chocolate and making overnight oats. But to drink it by the glass? No thanks.
I've been using alternative milk for a few years (soy, almond, coconut, whatever). Recently, I stumbled over a recipe for homemade rice milk. I thought I'd give it a try.
Here's the recipe:
Throw into a blender -
1 cup cooked rice
4 cups cold water
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Blend. Chill.
Makes 5 cups
What I did:
I rinsed 1/3 cup of basmati rice (the only rice I had in the pantry) and then added it to my rice cooker with 1 cup of water. Once the rice was cooked, I threw it all in the blender with the other stuff. And I did actually measure everything, since this was an experiment and all. When I saw how full the blender was, I opted to split it into batches and poured 1/2 of it back out. I'm glad I did. Next time, I may even blend it in 3 batches. You have to blend for awhile. I set it on high and let it go. Then I poured the mixture through a fine strainer into a washed and labeled empty milk jug. Homemade rice milk can last 4-5 days in the fridge so it's best not to make more than you will use in a short time.(You can also use brown rice -- just know the finished product will be off-white in color.)
Pros:
- super easy
- pretty quick (minus the rice cook-time, it took about 5 minutes)
- ridiculously cheap (like less than $0.50 per 1/2 gallon, I'm guessing)
Cons:
- needs to be shaken well every time you use it
- nutritionally unimpressive, even if you opt to make it with brown rice
Here's the breakdown:
Homemade Rice Milk serving size, 1 cup | using white rice | using brown rice |
calories | 43 | 46 |
carbohydrates | 9.6 g | 9.5 g |
protein | .8 g | 1 g |
fat | 0 g | .4 g |
fiber | .1 g | .4 g |
cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg |
calcium | <1 mg | 4 mg |
potassium | 10 mg | 30 mg |
Other vitamins | almost none | almost none |
And just for grins and giggles:
Comparing other milks serving size, 1 cup | Skim dairy milk | 2% dairy milk | Silk Light vanilla soy milk | Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk |
calories | 80 | 120 | 70 | 30 |
carbohydrates | 13 g | 11 g | 7 | 1 |
protein | 8 g | 9 g | 6 | 1 |
fat | 0 g | 5 g | 1.5 g | 2.5 |
fiber | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 |
cholesterol | 5 mg | 20 mg | 0 g | 0 |
calcium | 300 mg | 300 mg | 450 mg | 450 mg |
potassium | 410 mg | 342 mg | 340 mg | 170 mg |
Other vitamins | A-10%, D-25% | A-10%, D-25% | A-10%, D-30%, B12-50% | A-10%, D-25%, E-50% |
(US RDA: calcium - at least 1000 mg, and potassium - at least 4500 mg, for most populations)
What I thought:
It's not bad. It tastes like what you'd think - a light rice-ish flavor. It had a nice white milk-like color but is definitely thin. For me, the vanilla isn't optional. It only needs a few drops but it does make a difference. Some might even want a little stevia or some other sweetener, but I didn't think it was necessary. I wouldn't drink this by the glass, but again, I don't drink milk by the glass. It's great for smoothies or protein shakes, as it has slightly more body than water, if that makes sense. And over cereal, it's just fine.
I may play with this some more. It's thin and a little too watery for me. A starchier rice may yield a creamier consistency and I regret rinsing my rice. Though usually a good idea, in this case, more starch might be better. I've also seen recipes which call for the addition of 1 tbsp sunflower oil which would make a creamier, richer milk. And if I could just figure out how to fortify it...
I'm not yet convinced I'll be making homemade rice milk on a regular basis. The lack of overall nutrition makes it less appealing; though it could mean one less plastic-coated cardboard carton in the landfill every week, so we'll see.