I'm wondering if it's possible to make rice milk at home that's similar in texture/taste to Rice Dream rice milk. Most recipes online are really similar to each other, essentially being, blend some rice with some water, and (either after straining or not, and sweetening or not) enjoy. The two major differences seem to be with the rice being cooked before blending, or raw and soaked overnight before blending.
Having tried both now, here's what I feel:
– Cooked rice seems to leave the Rice Milk with a viscous/slimy texture
– Soaked raw rice seems to leave the Rice Milk with a chalky/powdery texture
Both of these, even after straining multiple times through a nut milk bag. The second option seems slightly better to me, just because the slimy texture makes me want to gag, but using cooked rice seems like the more popular option online, so maybe I'm missing something. I noticed none of the recipes call for salt or oil, both of which are listed ingredients in Rice Dream. I'm not sure if that would make a difference for the texture.
Does anyone out there have any experience making Rice Milk and know how to make a decent tasting (or at least, decent-textured) batch at home?
Best Answer
Since I'm not sure how to re-post as my guest account, I just want to say that I tried a little variation after reading logophobe's answer stating that he thought an added oil would counteract the chalkiness.
I toasted the rice grains (as the linked article stated) before soaking them, and then after blending, I strained the resulting milk once, and then threw the strained liquid back in the blender and added some canola oil, and the result was a MUCH better texture overall.
I didn't have Xanthan or Guar gum on hand to try, so I'm still yet to see how the mixture will hold up in the fridge, and if stirring will be enough to keep it this texture.
It definitely needed some sort of sweetener still though (in my opinion, but that's probably up to preference), but I feel like the oil, and possibly the toasting, really affected the texture in a positive way, to where it's a much more palatable base.