Rice wine is a delicious ingredient that appears in many Southeast Asian recipes. It has a unique and intense taste; it can be sweet or dry and is also served alone as a drink. Only two ingredients are needed to make rice wine at home, but the fermentation process is long and time-consuming. However, your patience will be rewarded with a versatile and delicious wine that you can sip or use in many ways in the kitchen.
Ingrediants
- 700 g of glutinous rice (also called sticky rice, which is a typical rice of Asia)
- 1 scoop of Chinese yeast to make rice wine
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Cooking the Rice
Step 1. Rinse the rice
Weigh 700g of glutinous rice using the kitchen scale, then pour it into a large bowl and rinse it several times until the water is clear rather than cloudy. Use glutinous rice, also called sticky rice, instead of regular rice if you want to get an authentic flavor product.
Step 2. Soak the rice for an hour
To obtain an ideal cooking, after rinsing it, leave it immersed in boiling water for about an hour. After soaking, drain it from the water using a colander.
Step 3. Boil the water in the steamer
Pour about half a liter of water into the bottom of the steamer and bring it to a boil. If you don't have a steamer, boil the water in a medium saucepan.
Step 4. Steam the rice
When the water starts to boil, pour the rice into the top compartment of the steamer and let it cook for about 25 minutes.
If you are using a traditional pot because you do not have a steamer, place the strainer with the rice over the boiling water making sure that the water does not come into contact with the rice. Cover the colander with the lid of the pot and cook the rice for 25 minutes
Step 5. Make sure the rice is cooked
When 25 minutes have passed, remove the lid from the steamer and taste the rice. If it hasn't softened completely yet, stir it in with a spoon and let it cook a little longer. Check it every 4-5 minutes and once ready, remove it from the pot.
Step 6. Spread the rice on a baking sheet
When it has reached the right degree of cooking, transfer it to a pan and spread it with the spoon to make it cool more quickly. It is essential to let it cool before starting the fermentation process. Spreading it well inside the pan will allow it to release the heat more quickly.
Part 2 of 3: Starting the Fermentation
Step 1. Break the yeast ball
Put it in a bowl and mash it with a pestle or the back of a large spoon. Keep working it until you get a fine powder.
Step 2. Combine the powdered yeast and rice
After crushing the yeast ball, sprinkle the powder evenly over the rice. At this point, mix the rice with your hands or with a spoon to combine the two ingredients.
Make sure the rice has cooled down. It must be slightly warmer than room temperature
Step 3. Put the rice in an airtight container
After mixing it with the yeast, it's time to kick off the storage and fermentation process. Transfer the rice to one or more airtight containers, depending on the size.
Step 4. Store the rice in a warm place
Try your best to keep it warm for a few days. You can keep the container with the rice in the oven on at a temperature of about 35-40 ° C (if your oven allows it) or more simply you can keep it warm with an electric hot water bottle. The heat will promote the fermentation process.
Part 3 of 3: Testing and Filtering Rice Wine
Step 1. After a few days, taste the wine
After a few days, you should notice that liquid is accumulating at the bottom of the container. That liquid is rice wine and is ready to drink as soon as it forms, so feel free to taste it immediately.
- If you like its flavor, transfer it to a second container and let the remaining mixture ferment. Even if it's not much yet, you can use it for cooking or sipping it at the end of a meal.
- The flavor of rice wine changes as it ferments. It will initially have a fruity and slightly pungent taste. If you let it ferment again, it will become sweeter, with a soft and slightly effervescent taste on the palate.
Step 2. Let the wine ferment for at least a month
Store the rice in a warm, dry place for about 30 days. After the first few days, you won't need to keep it in the oven or wrapped in an electric hot water bottle, as long as the weather is warm or you have a relatively warm place in the house.
You will notice that the more you let it ferment, the clearer it will become
Step 3. Filter the wine
After a month, the fermentation process will be complete. Filter the wine using a muslin cloth or a very fine mesh strainer and collect the liquid in a jar or container of your choice. Before continuing, make sure you have eliminated all solid residues from the wine.
You can drink or use the wine even immediately after filtering it
Step 4. Place the container with the rice wine in the refrigerator
After filling it with the rice wine, seal it and place it in the refrigerator. You can also drink it at room temperature, but it should always be kept in the refrigerator to make it last longer.
Step 5. Remove sediment from wine (optional)
After a few days of storing it in the refrigerator, you will notice that sediments have formed at the bottom of the container. If you want, you can remove them to improve the appearance of the wine and give it a more uniform consistency, but it is not strictly necessary.
Temporarily transfer the clarified wine to another container and dispose of the sediments remaining at the bottom in the sink, then return the wine to the original container
Step 6. Enjoy the rice wine
Use it in the kitchen, drink it on its own or store it in the refrigerator so that its flavor changes and ripens. Don't worry if it darkens as it gets older, that's perfectly normal. You can use rice wine in both sweet and savory dishes or sip it at the end of a meal as if it were a grappa.
Advice
- You can buy Chinese yeast at Asian food stores.
- Taste the wine often as it ferments to see how the taste evolves.
