Cold Drinks & Helados
Horchata in Los Angeles
Look for tall, frosted glass barrel dispensers filled with silky, cinnamon-dusted rice water ladled cold over cracked ice at Imperial Night Market in Downtown LA on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, when a vendor is serving it. Free entry.
2300 E 15th St, Downtown LA · Free entry
CATEGORY
Cold Drinks & Helados
ORIGIN
Mexico and Valencia, Spain
PREPARATION
Soaked rice is pulverized with cinnamon, mixed with water, milk, and sugar.
MARKET
Imperial Night Market, Downtown LA
HERITAGE
The origins of Horchata
Horchata traces back to Mediterranean grain and tuber drinks, notably the Valencian horchata de chufa made from tiger nuts. Spanish colonists transported the concept to the Americas, where local cooks adapted the technique by substituting white rice for chufa nuts.
The classic Mexican method begins by soaking rice with cinnamon in water.
Creamy rice milk bodySweet cinnamon aromaVelvety smooth chilled texture