If you are new to plant-based meals, I bet you never tried to make brown rice milk or milk in general. Milk? Isn’t it made by a cow? Or at least sold in stores as almond milk or soy milk? That’s true but you can easily make it yourself.
Rice milk reminds of regular milk of course. Whether the taste is very similar I can’t say as I didn’t drink cow milk for a long time. Some people say that among almond, soy and coconut milks, it’s the closest to the taste of a cow milk.
If you have brown rice ready, which needs a minimum of 1.5 days of soaking, then the recipe is good for the mornings or when you are on the run. Otherwise, it is a “long” drink. The amounts make two servings.
You will need
- Brown rice
- Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- Sun-dried figs
- Water
Soak rice for 36 hours
Soak 1 cup of brown rice for at least 36 hours in a slightly acidic water. Do the following. In a bowl, wash rice under running water. Then pour in clean water until it is 2-3 cm (~1 inch) above the rice. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and let it stand at room conditions. Water, especially of it is acidic, activates enzymes responsible for germination which in turn softens the grains. Every 12 hours, change the water and add another 2 tablespoons of your preferred acid.
A few words about soaking. If you are after eating raw plants, you will be doing a lot of it. That’s what our ancestors did. They knew before any scientists that it makes grains (as well as nuts and seeds) more nutritious, reduces phytic acid, improves digestibility and taste. People lost this knowledge. I think this happened during or right after World War II. At that time, technological inventions were popping out like rabbits. All of sudden, people became “way too smart” to do what their moms and grandmoms did.
Blend it and add figs
When rice is done with its bath, rinse it with clean water. Transfer to a blender and add water until it is several centimeters/inches above the rice (depends on the size of container though). Blend it to the liquid consistency. Add more water if the liquid is too thick. You need a pretty powerful blender to do that. Although I don’t use Vitamix (I use Ninja), I have heard from one individual that it crushes even bones and is praised a lot online. But it’s sure expensive. You can drink the milk at this stage.
If you want a satisfying, energy-boosting drink, throw in 3-4 medium to large-sized figs. Pay attention to what it says on a fig packaging. It should say “sun-dried”. If it doesn’t say so, then the figs are not sun-dried and obviously not raw. Double check that they are unsulphured as well. Organic Calimyrna figs by Made in Nature are just right. They are moist, have a sweet cognac flavour and full of delicious crispy seeds. Okay, blend once again, pour the milk into a nice glass and see whether milk from rice has the right to replace the milk from a cow!
This is a very informative article, thank you for sharing! I have never made rice milk before but will definitely be trying now! My son has gluten and dairy intolerances and I am always looking for good recipes to lessen the blow of living as such in a gluten and dairy dominated world here in the US!
Sure Andy. Make sure to soak the rice to decrease the level of mineral-depleting phytic acid.
I try to switch from dairy to plant based milk. But there are very limited choices. Those in the supermarket like almond or brown rice milk which are imported from overseas are really expensive too. I never knew we can make brown rice milk on our own – so imagine my joy when I found this article! It’s genius to ‘cook’ grains with ACV – sounds healthy too. Thanks for the recipe!
You are welcome Lily.
It tastes great even without anything added. Here you can read more on how to “cook” rice to make it more friendly both for your tummy and taste buds 😉
Coconut milk is so good as well (will soon make a post on how to make it).