Sweet Rice Punch (Sikhye 식혜)

1. Soak the crushed milled malt barley (yeotkireum 엿기름) in 10 cup of warm water for 1 hour. While soaking, massage the malt barley with your hand 2-3 times so that all the good stuff gets loose from the husk.
2. Strain malt barley water, making sure you squeeze out all the good stuff by hand in the strainer before throwing it away.
3. Rest the strained malt water for 2~3 hrs and you will see white sediments accumulate at the bottom of the bowl.*For a clearer sikhye, let it rest 4~5 hrs.
4. In the mean time, cook 1 cup of rice. When cooking rice, use less water to produce a drier rice. The rice granules should easily separate when cooked and not stick together.
5. Add the top liquid part of the malt barley water to the rice cooker with the cooked rice already in it. Leave the white sediments in the bowl as much as possible.* You do not need to pour all the liquid into the rice cooker. It just needs to fully cover your rice. Keep any remaining liquid in the bowl and let it rest until the step 8
6. Keep the rice + malt barley liquid mixture warm ( use the ‘keep warm’ option) in the rice cooker for around 5 hrs or more until about 4~5 rice granules rise to the top

IF (you want the rice to float when served)

1. THEN strain rice from liquid and rinse under running cold water and drain. Store in the fridge. Also be sure to use full 1 cup sugar later to make the rice float. 

IF (all you care about is the taste) THEN leave rice with the liquid

1. Pour liquid (and the rice, if you chose the taste option) into a large pot and any remaining liquid from step 5, again making sure white sediments are not added. Add sugar. Use 1 cup sugar if you like sweet desserts and also if you want the rice to float. Otherwise, start with 3/4 cup.

Boil on medium heat for 10 minutes.

1. Skim off any foam while it’s boiling.Taste the sweetness and adjust sugar to taste. Also remember that the drink will taste less sweet when served cold.