Homemade Sikhye Made with a Rice Cooker
Easy Sikhye at Home: Traditional Korean Rice Drink Made with a Rice Cooker
Enjoy this refreshing traditional Korean beverage, Sikhye, made easily at home using a rice cooker! It’s an indispensable drink for holiday feasts, offering a clean, delightful sweetness perfect as a dessert after a meal. Make this iconic beverage with its charming floating rice grains and crisp taste in your own kitchen!
Ingredients
- 200g Malted Barley Powder (approx. 1.5 cups)
- 170g White Rice (approx. 1 cup)
- 2L Warm Water (approx. 8 cups)
- 1/2 cup Sugar (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 piece Ginger (thumb-sized)
- A few Pine Nuts (for garnish)
- A few Jujubes (for garnish)
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
First, rinse the white rice thoroughly. Place it in your rice cooker and use slightly less water than usual to cook firm, fluffy rice, known as ‘godubap’. This texture prevents the rice grains from becoming mushy and helps maintain the signature bite in your Sikhye. Once cooked, gently fluff the rice with a spatula and let it cool slightly.
Step 2
Now, let’s prepare the malted barley powder. Place 200g of malted barley powder into a large bowl.
Step 3
Slowly pour 2L of warm water over the malted barley powder.
Step 4
The key to a great Sikhye is how well you extract the flavor from the malted barley. We want to infuse the water with its sweet taste and aroma. There’s no need to soak the malted barley beforehand.
Step 5
With your hands, vigorously knead and squeeze the malted barley in the bowl. This action will release a cloudy, sweet liquid as the barley grains break down. This malted barley water is the foundation of Sikhye’s sweetness and fermentation, so put some effort into this step.
Step 6
Strain the milky malted barley liquid through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Removing all the barley solids will ensure a clear and clean-tasting Sikhye.
Step 7
Transfer the slightly cooled ‘godubap’ into the inner pot of your rice cooker. Use a spatula to gently break apart any clumps of rice, ensuring there are spaces between the grains for the malted barley water to penetrate well.
Step 8
Pour the strained malted barley water over the rice in the pot, ensuring the rice grains are submerged. If you don’t have enough malted barley water, you can rinse the used malted barley again to extract more liquid. Set aside any remaining malted barley water for later.
Step 9
It’s time to add sweetness to aid fermentation. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar directly onto the malted barley water and rice mixture. Gently stir it in, being careful not to mash the rice grains. You can adjust the sugar amount according to your preference.
Step 10
Set your rice cooker to the ‘Keep Warm’ function and let it ferment for 4 to 5 hours. It’s crucial to use the ‘Keep Warm’ setting, not ‘Cook’! This maintains a warm temperature, allowing the enzymes in the rice to break down starches into sugars, creating natural sweetness. After about 4.5 hours, you should see many rice grains floating to the surface.
Step 11
Once more than ten rice grains are floating, your Sikhye is well-fermented. Carefully transfer the fermented Sikhye liquid and rice grains from the rice cooker pot to a saucepan. If you set aside any extra malted barley water earlier, add it now. (This step is only applicable if you have reserved extra malted barley water).
Step 12
Prepare the ginger to enhance the flavor. Take about a thumb-sized piece of ginger (half a small piece), peel it, and add it whole to the saucepan. Adding ginger helps eliminate any unwanted raw smell and imparts a subtle aroma, making your Sikhye even more delicious.
Step 13
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Once it starts boiling, immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the sweetness by adding more sugar if needed, until it reaches your desired level.
Step 14
For perfectly floating, distinct rice grains in your Sikhye, you can try this trick: carefully scoop out the cooked rice grains during the simmering process, place them in a bowl of cold water for a short while, then drain them again. This helps prevent them from absorbing too much sweetness and keeps them firm and buoyant.
Step 15
Finally, serve your beautifully made Sikhye in a nice bowl. Garnish with a few pine nuts and thinly sliced jujubes, rolled into decorative shapes. This creates a visually appealing and festive traditional Sikhye. Chill in the refrigerator before serving!
