Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch)

Name: Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: 1 cup dried malted barley (yeotgireum, found at Korean grocery stores); 10 cups water; 2 cups cooked short-grain white rice; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 4 slices fresh ginger, thinly sliced; 2 tbsp pine nuts (for garnish, optional)

60 minMediumServes 6120 cal/serving

KoreanNon-Alcoholic DrinkStovetopVeganLow CarbNut-FreeDairy-FreeEgg-FreeLow-SodiumPork-FreeNightshade-FreeCorn-Free

Cook this free in the appFree. No download, no account. The screen stays awake and each step can run its own timer.

Ingredients

1 cup dried malted barley (yeotgireum, found at Korean grocery stores)
10 cups water
2 cups cooked short-grain white rice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 slices fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 tbsp pine nuts (for garnish, optional)

Instructions

1

Place 1 cup dried malted barley (yeotgireum, found at Korean grocery stores) in a large bowl and cover with half the 10 cups water. Soak for 20 minutes, then squeeze and knead the barley with your hands to release the malt starch. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer, pressing firmly. Discard the solids and reserve the cloudy malt liquid. Let it rest for 10 minutes, then carefully pour off the clear upper liquid and discard the white sediment at the bottom.
2

Combine the clear malt liquid with the remaining water in a large pot and add 4 slices thinly sliced fresh ginger. Warm over low heat to about 140-150 degrees F (do not boil - high heat kills the enzymes).
3

Stir in 2 cups cooked short-grain white rice and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Keep the pot at 140-150 degrees F (use a thermometer and the lowest burner setting) for 4-5 hours, or until most of the rice grains float to the surface. Stir every 30 minutes.
4

Remove the floating rice grains with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a separate bowl with cold water to stop cooking. Bring the remaining liquid to a full boil for 5 minutes to halt enzyme activity, then remove the ginger.
5

Let the punch cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.
6

To serve, ladle the chilled punch into glasses, add a spoonful of the reserved floating rice, and garnish with 2 tbsp pine nuts (for garnish, optional).

Cook this free in the appCooking it now? The app keeps the screen awake and times each step. Free, nothing to install.

Keep this recipe

Prints the ingredients and method only.

The Korean Kitchen 30 recipes from this kitchen in one printable PDF. $5, no account.

Questions

What is Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch)?

A traditional Korean sweet rice punch made by steeping malt barley water with cooked rice until the grains float, then sweetening and chilling for a refreshing dessert drink. Plan ahead: the steeping and chilling process takes about 6 hours total. This reference files it under Korean non-alcoholic drink: made on the stovetop, rated medium and about 60 minutes start to finish.

What internal temperature should Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch) reach?

Step 2 reads: "Warm over low heat to about 140-150 degrees F (do not boil - high heat kills the enzymes)." That is about 65 C. The target internal temperature is 150 F (about 65 C), given in step 3. A probe thermometer removes the guesswork.

Do I need any special equipment for Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch)?

Beyond a knife and a board, the method uses a probe thermometer (step 3), cheesecloth (step 1) and a fine-mesh sieve (step 1). If you do not have one, a clean thin dish towel replaces the cheesecloth.

What can I use instead of pine nuts in Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch)?

The entry for Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch) calls for 2 tbsp pine nuts (for garnish, optional). In its place: Toasted slivered almonds, walnuts or sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds keep it nut-free.

Is Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch) keto-friendly?

A serving of Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch) carries 17 g of carbohydrate. Against a strict 20 g keto day that is 85 percent of the budget; against a moderate 100 g low-carb day it is 17 percent.

Which part of Sikhye (Sweet Rice Punch) can be done ahead?

Everything up to step 5. Step 5 is a built-in pause of 2 hours: "Let the punch cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours." Do everything up to that point ahead of time and pick up at step 6 when you are ready to finish.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is 4,544 plain-text recipes, free to read and free to cook from. No account, no paywall, no ads, no life stories. Open this one in the app and each quantity sits inside the step that uses it, so you read once and cook.

Every recipe is curated or public-domain sourced, written to one template and checked before it publishes. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually; the first 30 days are free.