The first ime I ever tried horchata was January 2014 on a girls weekend with my two girlfriends Maureen and Abby in New York. It was the ultimate trip but holy moly did we freeze our buns off. We experienced intermittent snow and weather that averaged about 12 degrees Fahrenheit. One of the nights we wanted to find something close to our hotel, which was located in Chinatown. We were craving something that would help warm us up a bit and when spicy came to mind then naturally Mexican food followed suit in our thoughts. We looked up nearby Mexican restaurants and were in luck as we found this one two blocks away.
Tacombi is beautiful! They have the cutest paleta bicycle cart parked outside and if you know me well this is my every dream come true! I would love to own my own paleta bike and sell paletas all day. For now I’ll stick to making them at home and entertaining my loved ones with them. There’s an actual VW van inside decked out as a bar, lowly-dimmed lights, giving you that over all hacienda vibe in the middle of Mexico City.
The food…there’s nothing that you’ll order that will disappoint the un-satiated palate. All of their tacos are great…I sampled one of each. The horchata was something I noticed my girlfriends order and left me intrigued so I ordered one. It’s almost milky taste and texture paired with cinnamon is something to die for. I can’t recommend Tacombi highly enough…and their horchata! Stay tuned as I take this recipe and turn it into paletas this summer!
Horchata
Ingredients
2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked
1/2 cup blanched, skinless almonds
4 cups water; plus 4 cups
1 cup sugar, plus more to taste
2 cinnamon sticks; plus more to garnish
1 tsp vanilla extract
Prepare
1. Grind rice and almonds in a food processor or spice grinder until it makes a fine powder.
2. Blend the almond and rice powder with 3 cups of water until smooth. Pour into a bowl. Add cinnamon sticks and vanilla. Set aside, covered, for at least 8 hours.
3. Use a fine mesh seive or cover your strainer with a layer of good cheesecloth.
4. Add 1 cup of water to your mixture and strain into a large bowl. You want to strain as much grit out as possible. Discard the solids.
5. Add sugar. Stir thoroughly.
6. Pour into a pitcher. Stir in 4 cups of cold water, sweeten to taste, and add lots of ice. Garnish with grated cinnamon and cinnamon sticks. You can spike it if you want. Rum, anejo tequila, or vodka adds a nice extra kick. Enjoy!
- 2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked
- 1/2 cup blanched, skinless almonds
- 4 cups water; plus 4 cups
- 1 cup sugar, plus more to taste
- 2 cinnamon sticks; plus more to garnish
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Grind rice and almonds in a food processor or spice grinder until it makes a fine powder.
- Blend the almond and rice powder with 3 cups of water until smooth. Pour into a bowl. Add cinnamon sticks and vanilla. Set aside, covered, for at least 8 hours.
- Use a fine mesh seive or cover your strainer with a layer of good cheesecloth.
- Add 1 cup of water to your mixture and strain into a large bowl. You want to strain as much grit out as possible. Discard the solids.
- Add sugar. Stir thoroughly.
- Pour into a pitcher. Stir in 4 cups of cold water, sweeten to taste, and add lots of ice. Garnish with grated cinnamon and cinnamon sticks. You can spike it if you want. Rum, anejo tequila, or vodka adds a nice extra kick. Enjoy!
