SIKHYE (KOREAN SWEET RICE DRINK)

Sikhye (Korean sweet rice drink) is one of the most popular Korean drinks. Its moderately sweet flavour and unique barley smell is liked by many who try it!

Sikhye (식혜, also known as shikhye or shikae) is a Korean traditional tea / drink often consumed during the Korean festive holidays (e.g. New Year’s Day and Korean Harvest Festival).

INGREDIENTS FOR SIKHYE FOR 12 SERVINGS

210g / 7.4 ounces malted barley flour (*see below)
15 cups water
1 cup steamed white rice (short grain), you can add more or less per your preference, make sure the rice is cooked slightly drier than normal
1 cup sugar (or to taste)
(Optional) pine nuts, to garnish
(Optional) pitted dried jujube, thinly sliced to garnish

HOW TO MAKE SIKHYE WITH TEA BAGGED MALTED BARLEY FLOUR (THE EASIEST AND THE QUICKEST METHOD)

Put the tea bagged malted barley flour, water, and cooked rice into a rice cooker pot. (Make sure you don’t over fill as it can boil over). Set the rice cooker to warm for 4 to 8 hours. (Don’t cook them. Just keep them warm.) I normally put these in my rice cooker late at night before I go to sleep and it’s ready for me in the morning (usually 7 hours later). The sign of readiness is when about 20 or so grains of rice float to the top.
If you don’t have a rice cooker, apparently you can use your oven. Keep it at the lowest temperature for 4 to 8 hours. The sign of readiness is the same as the rice cooker method above.
When it’s ready, remove the tea bags then pour the liquid over to a large pot. (If you want to make the rice to float when you serve, make sure you strain some rice while you’re pouring over the liquid. Rinse the rice in cold running water and move it to a separate container. Add some fresh water into the container.) Add the sugar into the large pot and boil it on high heat until the sugar dissolves (5 to 10 minutes). Cool down the drink then transfer it to the fridge to chill.
To serve, pour the chilled sikhye into a cup. Scoop out some reserved rice from step 2.
Add some pine nuts and/or dried jujube to garnish.