Lactose intolerant, or just prefer to skip the cow concoction and drink a more natural milk? Then you might like to try nut milk – almond, cashew, or coconut for instance. But before you shell out for pre-packaged nut milks, why not try making your own?
It might look tricky and time-consuming, but once you get the hang of it, making your own nut milk is fun, fast, affordable, and rewarding.
Here's now to do it in a nutshell (get it?):
1. Choose
This is the simplest step: choose your poison – err, we mean nuts. You could go with almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios, or coconuts.
Many people opt for almond milk, because of its pleasing neutral taste. Plus, a pack of almonds is pretty cheap. But the choice is yours.
2. Soak
Start by soaking the nuts overnight. Some people say you can do it in less time – even just a few hours – but general consensus is around 8 to 12 hours.
To soak, place the nuts in a big bowl and cover them with water. Add a dash of sea salt to break down the cultures and enzyme inhibitors found in the nuts.
3. Rinse
Next, rinse the nuts in clean water and throw away the soaking water.
4 Blend
Now, place the nuts into a blender with water. The ratio should be 4 cups of water to 1 cup of nuts. Turn the blender on and whizz away on high speed!
Some people like to have the milk as it is now – slightly rough and bulky. But if it's silky smooth nut milk you're after, proceed to step
5. Strain
Use cheese cloth, a sprout bag, or similar material to strain the mix into a big bowl or jar (you could use a rubber band to secure the material to the top of the container). These days, you can also buy special nut milk bags from health food shops – super simple.
The milk should flow through the material and into the bowl or jar. Give it a good hour or two, and all the milk should have seeped into the container.
6. Drink
Ah, yes. This is the most rewarding step – getting to drink your deliciously natural nut milk!
Just don't toss away the nut mixture sitting in the strain material. You can use that to make nut butter to spread on toast, or pop it into a recipe.
Keep the milk in the fridge for a few days.
Originally published on Oct 19, 2015
