Homemade fermented sticky rice wine 酒酿
I've come to a recent realization that if I were a food, I would be sticky rice. It's the best because of its texture and sweet flavor and also because of its versatility --check old post on making sweet sticky rice cake, my self proclaimed favorite food of ALL TIME. Not only is it magnificent in its glutinous rice flour form, but also just as delicious as a wrapped zhong zi, a tradition Chiu Chow kueh, or straight up with mango or steamed with mushrooms and scallion.
It's been a cold winter, and even though we're technically in spring based on the solar terms, there's a snow storm outside and most of the southern US is suffering from arctic temperatures and conditions. So, keep warm. One way to do that is with a little bit of alcohol. Here's a recipe that I learned from my reflexologist, also named Linda, so you know she's dope. She says to have this for breakfast with an egg drop to get your circulation going. The fermentation process gives the sweet sticky rice a touch of tartness, making it oh so good.
Linda generously provided me with the instructions, yeast balls, and red yeast rice. The red yeast rice is an optional ingredient (you only need ~1 tsp for 1 cup of sticky rice to get a nice pinkish red color), but it's packed with health benefits! Red yeast rice is known for it's cholesterol lowering properties and for aiding digestion and circulation.
Fermented sticky rice wine (serves 6-8)
1 cup sticky (glutinous) rice, washed and soaked overnight (~8 hours)
Chinese / Shanghai rice wine yeast *
steaming cloth (I used hemp cloth, can use cheese cloth)
1. Drain the pre-soaked sticky rice and prepare steamer lined with cloth
2. Spread sticky rice evenly over cloth and create a small well/hole to optimize heat dispersion. Steam for ~25 min or until sticky rice is translucent
3. Allow for sticky rice to cool by rinsing in cold water
4. Grind the yeast ball into powder form (follow the instructions on the package for measurement) and mix with 2 tbsp room temperature water until dissolved
5. Place sticky rice into a container / large glass jar and mix with yeast solution thoroughly
6. Create a small well/ hole at the center of the sticky rice and store at ~ room temp (ideally somewhere between 20C-28C / 68F-82F)
7. After 2-3 days, liquid will start accumulating from the sticky rice, once desired flavor is reached, store fermented sticky rice wine in the fridge to stop fermentation process
serve with: egg, tang yuan, or on its own!
*follow the measurements given by the specific brand you use, my reflexologist provided me with yeast balls and informed me to use ~2gm for 1 cup of sticky rice, online instructions vary greatly!!
