ahh... I'd forgotten about that post. But since it's freezing here right now it's good it came back up. Let me give it a go here: 1) You'll want to try and get your hands on some Mexican hot chocolate (I'll post a picture of the brand/package). I can't remember where you're at (Japan IIRC?) so it may be harder to come by where you're at. The best brands of Mexican hot chocolate come in brick form. They're actually round disk about a 2cm thick... and they often have other ingredients besides just cocoa in them. Vanilla bean, almonds and cinnamon being the most common. 2) The most basic way to prepare this sort of chocolate is to put milk in a pan and bring and warm it... don't actually boil it though... just warm to right before boiling... a nice simmer and add a portion of the chocolate disk based on how many cups you want to make. The Ibarra/Abuelita brand is premarked with per cup portions on the disk. Simmer and stir until the chocolate is completely melted into the milk. Traditionally we used a molinillo to make a good head of foam on the hot chocolate and stir it while it's being cooked. Outside of Mexico or So. Cal... you're not going to find one (I've provided a pic of this as well)... but you can order one via the internet or you can easily find something else to use in a similar fashion. A wish can be used... often these days I just use the steam wand on my espresso maker to do the trick. 3) The modern take on preparing this... because let's face it... most people haven't got the time or patience of Mexican grandmothers... lol... is to heat the milk... and dump in the blender with the desired amount of chocolate... hit blend... and voila - instant Mexican hot chocolate with a nice foamy head (just don't expect to impress Mexican grannies!). The head on this shouldn't really be as dense as on a cappuccino... because you couldn't really achieve that with a molonillo... but you can make it to your liking. now the variations on this are endless.. but ones that we do a whole lot in the winter that get served as hot drinks are the following: 1) Use milk, chocolate, NO sugar and a pinch of fresh ground black pepper to taste. Very warming! 2) Use milk, chocolate, NO sugar and add ground fresh red chili to taste. Preferably the type of little red Chili called chili pequin... fresh red Thai chili's more available in Asia will also work well. Green chili, while adding heat... doesn't seem to reach the right flavor. Again... experiment with this... my missus makes this version hot enough to melt a hole in my lip... I tend to make it more mild... the version that doesn't require instant admission to the ER. Again - if you're going ultra Aztec authentic... prepare with water instead of milk in a pan, mix and foam with a mollinio, add NO sweeteners of any kind and at the last bit add fresh ground black pepper to add some heat. Pour into a ceramic cup and enjoy. It's also worth noting that when we were kids the grandmothers making these drinks didn't use white sugar as a sweetener... but piloncillo. Which is a rawer form of sugar used in Mexico and around the world under different names that comes in cones or bricks. It's got a more caramel flavor to it. And is pretty key in achieving the right flavor. Vanilla bean is great... but in the west it's stupidly expensive for even a single bean pod and so real vanilla extract in a bottle works just as well. I always error on the side of underdoing it rather than overdoing it. 3) A variation on this theme is to make Atole... using corn meal pretty much the same drink made with water and a portion of masa... roughly ground cornmeal.. exactly the kind used for tamales and corn tortillas. It's a meal, it's a drink! This is very common in Mexican communities during Posadas. And it is tasty in the extreme!!! Though I find many non-Latin people have an aversion to ground cornmeal in their drinks. They're not used to textured drinks. Or really for that matter... spicy drinks... certainly I can't think of any in most western culture that use black pepper or chili. The chocolate version of that drink is called Champurrado. There are variations of all of these drinks made in most latin countries and most are common in the Philippines. Though Champurado in the Philippines is a dish made with chocolate and rice that's thick enough to be eaten at breakfast with a spoon. Whereas in Mexico it's a drink made with chocolate and corn meal and it's meant to be drunk. The transmission of these types of foods/drinks to the Philippines I suspect is primarily due to Spaniards and Aztec sailors brought to the Philippines when it was a Spanish colony administered out of Spanish Mexico. In the southwest of the US when people talk about the Holy Trinity it's actually in regards to cooking... they're referring to corn, beans and squash... the staples of the diet. Not really anything to do with Jesus. At any rate... that's it... I'm sure I've probably forgot something... so if you have a question just ask. In the picture attached you can see the disk of bitter Mexican chocolate (Ibarra brand is a popular brand along with Abuelita brand) and the little cones are piloncillo (rough, raw sugar) and the wooden instrument is a molinillo for stirring and making foam.
ahhh one more thing for everyone reading this thread... the drink has become popular enough that there are some ready made mixes that pretend to be Mexican hot chocolate popping up online and in cafes now... They are all crap. I've tried many of them out... and they suck beyond compare. No flavor, no texture and no heat. After reading the ingredient labels it's obvious why... most have very little actual chocolate in them and they're choc full of white sugar and lots of other fake flavors like fake vanilla. It's garbage designed to sell to ignorant people. Avoid them at all costs. They have nothing to do with Mexican hot chocolate.
Thanks Slip! I grew up in Fresno, California but moved away 14+ years ago. I haven't thought about this in like a decade. I know what I'm going to make this evening! --Michael
Slip do you think I could make this from scratch with La Molina 100% chocolate and soy milk (allergic to cow). I think I have as much chance of finding genuine Mexican chocolate here as I have of getting Kylie and Angelina back to my flat for a session with my GF filming.
hahaha... I hear ya. Sure... since you can't drink milk there's no point in considering the taste difference of it made with soy milk. I've never had it made with soy milk... but come to think of it.. very popular here in Hong Kong during the winter is malted soy milk. It's tasty and the flavor isn't all that far off from this type of a drink. You will have to get your hands on cinnamon, vanilla and hopefully a non refined type of sugar (regular bakers brown sugar would work). All of that I'm sure you can get in your parts. Then it's just a matter of adjusting it to taste. I might give this a try this week and see how it goes. So yeah no reason not to give it a try.
Oh wow, this is going to be awesome in 5 or 6 months time! In the last year or so I started having hot chocolate with no sugar, this sounds like an interesting way to up the ante further.
Ive got vanilla pods, cinnamon sticks, only ever use unrefined sugar in very small quantities and can get Thai birds eye chilies no bother. I have a big wooden honey dipper that hasn't been used that will do service as a "molinillo" I will judge the chocolate size from your piccie. Thanks mate.
If only it got cold enough here for hot chocolates. Well it does...but only in the morning when I cannot be bothered doing anything. Sounds awesome Slip.
22C the other day! Chilly billy! Roll on the hot chocolate.... Perth's wettest February day since 1992 Paul Graham, Friday February 8, 2008 - 18:08 EDT Perth had its wettest February day since 1992 on Thursday, according to weatherzone.com.au. Showers and storms brought 30mm to the city as well as keeping the temperature well below average. The maximum was just 22 degrees, nine below normal for this time of year. Increased sunshine today helped lift the city's temperature to 30 degrees and the outlook is for much warmer temperatures over the next week as a trough develops off the west coast, drawing very warm northeasterly winds. Perth should reach 36 on Wednesday and up to 38 on Thursday. - Weatherzone © Weatherzone 2008
That was one day Rained the entire months rainfall in a single day. Now it's getting warm again. I'm all for hot weather when I get to go surfing but that's out of the picture now.
Aus/NZ is in a bizarre mirror image of each other right now. NSW has been getting heaps of rain, over here there's been barely a drop in January in many places. Check out this photo: Top image is last August, bottom image is this month. I think they had 4mm of rain in Jan.
Cheers Slip! Phenomenal! Most people suck at giving recipes (myself included - I can never take the time to explain things like that) but that was great. I'll be checking it out as soon as I can get my Mexican friend to get some of the real deal sent over (may take some time - she lives in Jakarta herself!)... Is it time for the MAP recipe thread!?
Aw no worries. One thing I hate are incomplete recipes. Just a thought, can't remember if I mentioned it in the above... If you have trouble getting the Mexican brand of chocolate (Ibarra or Abuelita) you can easily substitute the brands from the Philippines! They grow a big amount of cacao pod in the Philippines. There are plenty of Filipinos working all around asia... so usually every major Asian city has a number of little Filipino shops that sell Philippines products. I often use their chocolate for making Mexican hot chocolate. The product is basically the same. Instead of coming the shape of a disck it's smaller and comes in a paper tube... like little mini hockey pucks. One little puck equals about one cup of hot chocolate. So once you have this... you can just apply all of the above to it and it's not going to be far off Mexican hot chocolate. The quality of chocolate from the Philippines is great to be honest. I'd been up to the mountains in the south where much of it is grown... it's impressive to see. The people I was staying with could take bright yellow cacao pod and remove the flesh, take out the slimy white beans inside (they look like silkworms) and then roast them to remove the husk... and then grind them on a heated stone to melt down the fats... voila! Chocolate direct from the source. Really blew me away to see it happen. It will always be much cheaper than any European brand of chocolate as you're not paying the same sorts of mark up that you would for American/French/Dutch chocolate. If you're in Japan - there are plenty of Filipinos working there... so there will be a Philippines goods store somewhere there. Ask around. You might have to explore as they will no doubt think your asking about chocolate as in a candy bar... most don't understand why a non Filipino would want to buy this kind of chocolate. Here's a link you're sure to enjoy. Great pictures and a great write up. Note the picture of the little paper rolls of cocoa. That exactly what I can get here in Hong Kong. Superb. http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2007/02/philippine_bitt.html
