Cannonball Jones
Member
(If this is the wrong forum, please let me know. It's related to making rice wine.)
I teach at an elementary school in rural Taiwan, and today I attended a class at a local community centre presented by the mother of one of my grade 5 kids. She was teaching us how to make 酒釀, which is the sweet, fermented rice used in a variety of stews. It's traditionally eaten in the colder weather, although is often eaten year-round, and of course making it has the added benefit of having some delicious sweet wine left over. (As a side note, it's supposed to help with a variety of women's issues, from easing period pains to creating a healthier womb to making girls have larger breasts when they grow up. You heard it here first folks, give your girls alcoholic rice stew for breakfast if you want them to grow up 'larger'! I somehow doubt there's any scientific truth to this...). This has been covered elsewhere, but I thought people might be interested in how the Amis people do it while it's fresh in my mind and my sparse notes still make sense to me. It's a very natural, imprecise method, which I personally love.
You'll need rice, water, yeast balls, cheesecloth (optional) and a container with a lid. Amounts/sizes are up to you (see recipe).
1. Use short-grain glutinous rice (糯米)
2. Steam the rice, but do not soak it beforehand. Many rice wine recipes call for soaking, but this can mean the actual 酒釀 ends up too soggy. It should end up with the consistency of Thai sticky rice, easily clumping together.
3. While it's still hot to the touch, slowly add water (filtered/boiled/bottled) to the rice while teasing the grains apart (you might want to use plastic gloves for this, or wash your hands very well first). You want to do this until none of the grains are clumping together, but you don't want any water to be dripping off when you pick up a handful.
4. Note the temperature when you're adding the water. Don't let it get too cold, it should be around body temperature.
5. Add your yeast. You need the correct kind of yeast for rice wine (白麴), which comes as a white powder or a white ball. If it's a ball, grind it into powder first. You need about 1 yeast ball per kilo of rice, which comes out to about 40g per kilo. I've heard you can get these at most Asian supermarkets in western countries. You need to mix the yeast into the rice.
6. Put the rice in your container, but don't press it down too hard. There needs to be pockets of air between the grains. Fill your container to about 80% of its volume, then make a hole in the center (a few cm in diameter) from the top to the bottom. Use your fingers, or stick a soup spoon in and rotate it as you push it down. Rinse the spoon in water first to prevent rice from sticking.
7. Put the lid on the container, but not too tightly. Air needs to be able to escape. If you want, you can put some cheesecloth over the top, then put the lid on over that. This ensures that air can get out but bugs won't get in.
8. Leave it somewhere dark, the ideal ambient temperature is 28-35C. If it's cooler in your area, it might take a few days longer. Wrap a blanket or towel around the container to keep it a little warmer if you need to.
9. Check on it a few days later to see if liquid is forming at the bottom. If so, great. If not, you might have messed up. It should have a sweet smell.
10. At ideal temperatures, it'll be done in 3-5 days. If it's colder, it might take a week to 10 days. Empty the contents into a sieve, bottling the liquid to drink. It should be around 5% abv by this point and sweet to taste. Drink it within a week unless you're refrigerating it, but the wine isn't the main focus.
11. Use the rice in stews, porridge, or however you fancy! It can be eaten straight out of the container, but is better in a warm dish or used in something like tangyuan/湯圓. Enjoy!
I teach at an elementary school in rural Taiwan, and today I attended a class at a local community centre presented by the mother of one of my grade 5 kids. She was teaching us how to make 酒釀, which is the sweet, fermented rice used in a variety of stews. It's traditionally eaten in the colder weather, although is often eaten year-round, and of course making it has the added benefit of having some delicious sweet wine left over. (As a side note, it's supposed to help with a variety of women's issues, from easing period pains to creating a healthier womb to making girls have larger breasts when they grow up. You heard it here first folks, give your girls alcoholic rice stew for breakfast if you want them to grow up 'larger'! I somehow doubt there's any scientific truth to this...). This has been covered elsewhere, but I thought people might be interested in how the Amis people do it while it's fresh in my mind and my sparse notes still make sense to me. It's a very natural, imprecise method, which I personally love.
You'll need rice, water, yeast balls, cheesecloth (optional) and a container with a lid. Amounts/sizes are up to you (see recipe).
1. Use short-grain glutinous rice (糯米)
2. Steam the rice, but do not soak it beforehand. Many rice wine recipes call for soaking, but this can mean the actual 酒釀 ends up too soggy. It should end up with the consistency of Thai sticky rice, easily clumping together.
3. While it's still hot to the touch, slowly add water (filtered/boiled/bottled) to the rice while teasing the grains apart (you might want to use plastic gloves for this, or wash your hands very well first). You want to do this until none of the grains are clumping together, but you don't want any water to be dripping off when you pick up a handful.
4. Note the temperature when you're adding the water. Don't let it get too cold, it should be around body temperature.
5. Add your yeast. You need the correct kind of yeast for rice wine (白麴), which comes as a white powder or a white ball. If it's a ball, grind it into powder first. You need about 1 yeast ball per kilo of rice, which comes out to about 40g per kilo. I've heard you can get these at most Asian supermarkets in western countries. You need to mix the yeast into the rice.
6. Put the rice in your container, but don't press it down too hard. There needs to be pockets of air between the grains. Fill your container to about 80% of its volume, then make a hole in the center (a few cm in diameter) from the top to the bottom. Use your fingers, or stick a soup spoon in and rotate it as you push it down. Rinse the spoon in water first to prevent rice from sticking.
7. Put the lid on the container, but not too tightly. Air needs to be able to escape. If you want, you can put some cheesecloth over the top, then put the lid on over that. This ensures that air can get out but bugs won't get in.
8. Leave it somewhere dark, the ideal ambient temperature is 28-35C. If it's cooler in your area, it might take a few days longer. Wrap a blanket or towel around the container to keep it a little warmer if you need to.
9. Check on it a few days later to see if liquid is forming at the bottom. If so, great. If not, you might have messed up. It should have a sweet smell.
10. At ideal temperatures, it'll be done in 3-5 days. If it's colder, it might take a week to 10 days. Empty the contents into a sieve, bottling the liquid to drink. It should be around 5% abv by this point and sweet to taste. Drink it within a week unless you're refrigerating it, but the wine isn't the main focus.
11. Use the rice in stews, porridge, or however you fancy! It can be eaten straight out of the container, but is better in a warm dish or used in something like tangyuan/湯圓. Enjoy!
