Morocho or Ecuadorian spiced corn pudding drink

Recipe for Ecuadorian morocho, also called morocho dulce, a thick sweet drink made with morocho cracked corn, milk, cinnamon, sugar and raisins.

En Español

Morocho is a classic Ecuadorian comfort drink and is primarily sold on the streets or at markets. The consistency is similar to a pudding milkshake and you can usually eat it with a spoon. This recipe has been one of the most requested recipes that I’ve received and I am very glad to finally be posting it.

The biggest challenge I’ve had with making this drink, is that for the longest time I couldn’t find the right type of corn to make it in the US. Morocho corn is a type of dried cracked hominy corn that you can now find in Latin grocery stores. This type of corn is also used to make a delicious soup called sopa de morocho and the famous empanadas de morocho.

 
At first glance this drink almost looks like the well known arroz con leche or rice pudding dessert, and the process for preparing it is quite similar. Morocho does have that delicious milky cinnamon flavor that arroz con leche has, but the corn also lends its own flavor to the drink. You can enjoy morocho for breakfast, it also works great as an afternoon pick-me up, or can even be served as a dessert.

Morocho is made by simmering the corn with milk and cinnamon until the corn is very tender, you can also do the quick version preparation by cooking the morocho corn with water in a pressure cooker, and then cooking it with the milk. If you have time it is much better to cook it directly in the milk, you will also need to add less sugar if you cook the corn in the milk as the milk reduces and naturally sweetens the drink.

Drinks and desserts in Ecuador tend to be very very very sweet, I was used to it when I lived there, but this last visit I realized that I prefer a little bit less sweetness. As a result I use a lot less sugar in this recipe than they put in the morocho that they sell on the street, so feel free to adjust the amount of sugar based on your preference. Raisins are included sometimes and can be added if you like them.

Morocho or Ecuadorian spiced corn pudding drink

Morocho is a thick sweet drink made with morocho corn, milk, cinnamon, sugar and raisins.

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Course: Dessert, Drinks, Sweets

Cuisine: Andean, Ecuadorian, Latin, South American

Keyword: Cracked corn, Morocho, Spiced corn drink, Sweet corn pudding

Cook Time: 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Soaking time: 12 hours hours

Total Time: 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 14 oz of cracked morocho corn or dried cracked white hominy corn about 2 cups
• 6 cups of water to soak
• ~8 cups or 2 liters of milk
• 3-4 cinnamon sticks
• ¼ – ½ cup sugar or grated panela piloncillo brown sugar, adjust to taste
• ½ cup raisins optional
• Ground cinnamon for sprinkling

Instructions

• Soak the morocho corn overnight in 6 cups of water.
• Place the morocho corn, cinnamon sticks, and the 8 cups of milk in a pot. Cook on low temperature until the corn gets very soft and tender, about 3 hours. Stir every once in a while to keep the corn from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Stir more frequently during the last 30 minutes.
• Add the sugar and the raisins. Cook for another 15-30 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Serve warm and sprinkle ground cinnamon on top.

There are variations of this comforting dessert in many Latin countries: mazamorra (peto) in Colombia/Venezuela, canjica in Brazil, chaca or maiz caquiado in Dominican Republic, tujuré/tojorí in Bolivia, chicheme in Costa Rica

Step by step preparation photos for Ecuadorian morocho corn drink