Tips for Cooking with Rice Milk

Rice milk is becoming very popular in America and other parts of the world. My first experience with rice milk was in Japan during a cultural exchange program in high school. At that time, I thought to myself that I was drinking flavored water and not a proper milk substitute. Milk is much thicker than rice milk so it does not have the same feeling on the tongue or throat. After a while of drinking the rice milk in Japan I became addicted to it and found that it was hard to find in American stores about ten years ago. Today that is not the case though; rice milk is found in just about any grocery store and has even been found in some restaurants around the nation.

Rice milk can be used in just about anything to substitute cow’s milk. Here are my suggestions to make your recipes go a little smoother:

Tip #1: Use in sweet dessert recipes- there are flavored types of rice milk on the market such as vanilla that goes well with dessert recipes and make a richer style of dessert.

Tip#2: When making homemade breads it is best to add a little honey or agave nectar to substitute naturally sweet cow’s milk with rice milk. The bread comes out 100% the same and all the people that I have served my homemade to have not noticed the difference since I switched over to rice milk. I tend to use the unsweetened, non-flavored rice milk for my breads and add no sweetener since I do not like sweet breads. My husband on the other hands enjoys sweeter bread once and a while so I add a little agave to make it for him.

Tip#3: Do not use rice milk in things that have milk to make the menu item thicker or creamy. For instance, I have tried a few times to use rice milk in mashed potatoes however it does not have the right taste and comes out more runny than a nice creamy blend.

Tip#4: Using rice milk in cereal is very easy and tastes excellent. I have served rice milk for a few years now to non-vegetarians and they have fallen in love with the taste. Since rice milk has a different taste (almost sweeter), many people love the rice milk since it enhances the flavor. If you love sugar in the morning such as my husband, he loves to use vanilla flavored rice milk in his cereal. It brings out the sweetness and has a wonderful vanilla scent. I’m not much for a sweet breakfast person so I go for the plain rice milk and I find that it adds a nice hint of sweetness but not a burst of it. Try to pair the flavored rice milks with less sweet cereals and the other way around for plain rice milk.

Tip#5: Rice milk can be easy substitute but I used to find it hard to make recipes with buttermilk. I was clued in by a friend though that if you add a tablespoon per cup of rice milk of white vinegar or lemon juice you can make your own mock buttermilk. It works wonders and can be easily made in few seconds. This works better with soy milk but can also work with rice milk.