Mote con huesillo (Chilean wheat & dried-peach drink)
Homemade mote con huesillo: dried peaches in spiced syrup over wheat berries. Chile's classic drink with its exact proportions.
Mote con huesillo takes about 60 active minutes plus at least 2 hours of chilling. Ideally, make it the day before: the resting time deepens the syrup's flavour and allows the dried peaches to fully rehydrate. Serve very cold — dark syrup, a scoop of mote and at least one whole huesillo per glass.
Ingredients
- For the huesillos and syrup:
- For the mote:
Instructions
-
Boil the huesillos
Rinse the dried peaches under cold running water to remove any dust. Place in a large saucepan with 1.5 litres of water and the cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 20–25 minutes: the peaches will float at first and the water will gradually darken as they rehydrate and soften. Check that they are tender but still holding their shape — they should yield when pressed but not fall apart.
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Make the syrup over low heat
Once the peaches are tender, add the sugar (or the sugar and crumbled chancaca/panela) to the cooking liquid. Stir until dissolved. Reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for a further 15 minutes until the syrup thickens slightly to a deep caramel colour. The correct consistency: the liquid should coat the back of a spoon with a thin film. Remove the cinnamon stick.
-
Boil the mote
Rinse the mote several times until the water runs clearer. Place in a saucepan with plenty of water and the salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium and simmer for 30–35 minutes until the grains are tender and slightly opened (similar to cooked wheat or al-dente rice). Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
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Cool and refrigerate
Leave the syrup with the peaches to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate covered for at least 2 hours (ideally overnight). Store the cooked mote separately in a sealed container in the refrigerator: combining them too early causes the mote to absorb too much syrup and become overly soft.
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Assemble and serve
To serve: place 2–3 generous tablespoons of cold mote at the bottom of a tall glass. Add one or two whole huesillos. Pour in enough cold syrup to cover the mote and peaches generously — the glass should be almost full of dark liquid. If the syrup has thickened too much overnight, loosen it with a splash of cold water. Serve immediately, very cold.
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Nutrition information
| Calories | 230 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 3 g |
| Carbs | 53 g |
| Sugars | 32 g |
| Fat | 1 g |
| Trans fat | 0 g |
Values per serving (1 of 4).
Frequently asked questions
What is mote and what is a huesillo?
Mote is husked wheat — wheat kernels that have been stripped of their outer bran layer through a traditional process using ash or lime — cooked until the grains are tender and slightly chewy. A huesillo is a whole dried peach (with its stone) sun-dried until wrinkled and concentrated in natural sugar. Both ingredients are of Chilean-Andean origin and together make up the most popular and representative cold drink-dessert in Chilean gastronomy.
Where can I find mote and huesillos outside Chile?
Look in Latin American or Andean food shops. Huesillos can be substituted with dried peach halves (orejones, without the stone), though the flavour is somewhat sweeter and less complex. Mote can be replaced with pearled wheat or farro (available in health food shops and some supermarkets); the texture is similar but the flavour is more neutral. Both are also available from online shops specialising in Chilean ingredients.
How do I make the mote con huesillo syrup?
Cook the dried peaches in water with a cinnamon stick until tender (20–25 minutes). Add the sugar or chancaca to the same cooking liquid and continue simmering over low heat for a further 15 minutes until the syrup thickens. Chancaca gives the syrup its dark colour and molasses-like depth that characterises the most traditional version; white sugar alone produces a lighter, more delicate result. The key to deep flavour is leaving the syrup and peaches to rest overnight in the fridge.
How long does mote con huesillo keep in the fridge?
Well covered, the syrup with peaches keeps for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Cooked mote, stored separately, keeps for 3–4 days. To serve over several days, keep the mote and syrup in separate containers and assemble each portion to order: mote left in prolonged contact with the syrup becomes very soft and loses its texture.
Can it be made without sugar or lighter?
Yes, with a few adjustments. Reduce the sugar by half, or use granulated erythritol or stevia in the same proportion (the syrup will be lighter and less thick). If using chancaca, note that it has a lower glycaemic index than refined sugar but is still sugar. The lightest version is to simmer the huesillos with only the cinnamon stick and no added sugar: dried peaches are naturally sweet and the resulting liquid does have flavour, though it will be thinner. Compensate by simmering longer to reduce it.
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