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8 Tips for Cooking with Rice Milk

Cow's Milk, Rice Milk, Rice Recipes

Rice milk is a milky drink made from rice. It is often used as an alternative to dairy milk. For instance strict vegetarians may use it a lot. Those who are lactose intolerant or allergic to cow’s milk can also use it. It can be used alone as a drink, in various recipes, and can even be used to make a frozen ice cream-like dessert.

You can buy rice milk at many grocery stores, and it comes in flavors: plain, vanilla, and chocolate. You can also make your own. To make rice milk, combine one cup of brown rice with four cups of hot water in a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the liquid through a cheesecloth to remove any sediment. You can then add a bit a vanilla extract and/or a bit of sweetener, if desired.

Because rice milk is made from grain, it is high in carbohydrates. It is much lower in protein and calcium than regular dairy milk. The rice milk you can buy in the store is often fortified with vitamins and minerals, but it is not nutritionally similar to cow’s milk or soy milk.

Follow these tips when cooking with rice milk.

1. Rice milk can be substituted for cow’s milk in many recipes. However, cow’s milk has much more fat in it, so recipes made with rice milk may come out thinner. Therefore, you might want to use a little less rice milk than you would use cow’s milk.

2. Rice milk can also be substituted for water in many recipes, such as recipes for baked goods like pancakes and waffles.

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3. Rice milk makes excellent puddings.

4. You can also use rice milk in macaroni and cheese.

5. You can use rice milk in smoothies. Just add frozen fruit and a dab of honey, and whir up in the blender for a few seconds.

6. Rice milk tends to be a bit sweeter than cow’s milk, although if you make your own rice milk you can control how much sweetener you add to it. Because it tends to be sweeter, though, it may be best used in sweet dishes.

7. When using rice milk you buy at the store, make sure get plain, unflavored rice milk unless you want vanilla flavoring in your food. Rice milk is often flavored with vanilla (it is available in other flavors as well, such as chocolate; you may want to use that in certain foods, like puddings).

8. Store unused rice milk in the refrigerator for up to a week. Rice milk can also be frozen and kept for much longer.

Sources:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-rice-milk.htm. What Is Rice Milk?