Rice wine is an
alcoholic beverageAn alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
made from
riceRice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
. Unlike
wineWine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, which is made by
fermentationFermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation in simple terms is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol...
of naturally sweet
grapeA grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s and other fruit, rice "wine" results from the fermentation of rice
starchStarch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
converted to sugars. This process is akin to that used to produce
beerBeer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
; however, beer production employs a
mashing processIn brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining a mix of milled grain , known as the "grain bill", and water, known as "liquor", and heating this mixture...
to convert starch to sugars whereas rice wine uses the different
amylolytic processAmylolysis, or the amylolytic process, is the conversion of starch into sugar by the action of acids or enzymes like amylase.The amylolytic process is used in the brewing of alcohol from grains. Since grains contain starches but little to no simple sugars, the sugar needed to produce alcohol is...
. Alcoholic beverages distilled from rice were exclusive to
EastEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and Southeast Asian countries, with knowledge of the distillation process reaching
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and parts of
South AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
later through trade. Rice brew typically has a higher alcohol content (18–25%) than wine (10–20%), which in turn has a higher alcohol content than beer (3–8%).
Rice wine features prominently in
ChineseChinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
and other East Asian cuisines. A substitute for rice wine is dry pale
sherrySherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....
.
Types
Some types of rice wine include:
- Amazake
is a traditional sweet, low-alcoholic Japanese drink made from fermented rice. Amazake dates from the Kofun period, and it is mentioned in the Nihon Shoki. It is part of the family of traditional Japanese foods made using that includes miso, soy sauce, and sake....
- low-alcohol Japanese rice drink
- Ang Jiu - Chinese red rice wine, popular among the FooChow Chinese (Malaysia, China)
- Ara
Ara, or Arag, is a traditional alcoholic beverage consumed in Bhutan. Ara is made from rice, maize, millet, or wheat, and may be either fermented or distilled. The beverage is usually a clear, creamy, or white color.-Production:Ara is most commonly made from rice or maize at private homes or farms...
- BhutanBhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
ese rice, millet, or maize wine
- Brem
Brem is the traditional fermented food or fermented beverage from Indonesia. There are two types of brem, brem cake that usually eaten as snack from Madiun and Wonogiri, and brem beverage made of rice wine from Bali and Nusa Tenggara, but mostly known from Bali...
- Balinese rice wine
- Cheongju
Cheongju is a clear Korean rice wine. The most popular brand of cheongju is Chung Ha...
- Korean rice wine
- Beopju
Beopju is a traditional Korean rice liquor, of the cheongju family of liquors. It is made chiefly from glutinous rice, and has an alcohol content of about 15%.Beopju first appears in historical records in the Goryeo Dynasty...
- a variety of cheongju
- Choujiu
Choujiu is a type of Chinese fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from glutinous rice. It is very thick and has a milky white color, which is sometimes compared to jade....
- A milky glutinous riceGlutinous rice is a type of short-grained Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked. It is called glutinous Glutinous rice (Oryza sativa var. glutinosa or Oryza glutinosa; also called sticky rice, sweet rice, waxy rice, botan rice, biroin chal, mochi rice, and pearl rice, and pulut) is a...
wine popular in Xi'anXi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
, China
- Cơm rượu - A Vietnamese dessert consisting of rice balls in mildly alcoholic, thick, milky rice wine
- Gamju
Gamju or dansul is a traditional Korean alcoholic beverage, made from rice fermented with yeast-cake. Because its fermentation is incomplete, its alcohol content is relatively low. It is made from steamed rice, to which water and yeast-cake are added. It is then fermented for several hours in a...
- A milky, sweet rice wine from Korea
- Hadia
Hadia is a rice beer commonly made in the Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states of India. It may alternatively be spelt hadiya.The making involves the use of herbs mixed with boiled rice and left to ferment...
- Rice beer made after fermentation in Chottanagpur regions of eastern Indian states of Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal (India)
- Huangjiu
Huangjiu is a type of Chinese beverage brewed directly from grains such as rice, millet, or wheat. Unlike baijiu, such liquors are not distilled, and contain less than 20% alcohol, due to the inhibition of fermentation by ethanol at that concentration...
- A Chinese fermented rice wine, literally "yellow wine" or "yellow liquor", with colors varying from clear to brown or brownish red. Famous varieties include those produced in ShaoxingShaoxing is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou to the southeast, Jinhua to the southwest, and Hangzhou to the west. It was once known as "越"...
. Used for both drinking and cooking.
- Jiuniang
Jiuniang is a sweet, soup- or pudding-like dish in Chinese cuisine made by fermenting glutinous rice with a starter containing yeast and Aspergillus oryzae...
- A Chinese soup- or pudding-like dessert made from fermented glutinous rice in a mildly alcoholic rice wine
- Kulapo - A reddish rice wine with strong odor and alcohol content from the Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
- Lao-Lao
Lao-Lao is a Laotian rice whisky produced in Laos. Along with Beer Lao, lao-Lao is a staple for the people of Laos. Contrary to what the romanized transcription would make one believe, the name lao-Lao is not the same word repeated twice, but actually two different words pronounced with different...
- A clear rice wine from Laos
- Lihing - Kadazan rice wine (Sabah, Malaysian Borneo)
- Makgeolli - a milky traditional rice wine indigenous to Korea
- Mijiu
Mijiu is a variety of Chinese wine made from rice. As a fermented beverage, it is categorized as a form of huangjiu. It is generally clear and somewhat sweet, like its Japanese counter-part sake. Its alcohol content ranges between 12% and 20%....
- a clear, sweet Chinese rice wine/liqueur made from fermented glutinous rice, drunk as a beverage, used in cooking, or served as a dessert called jiuniangJiuniang is a sweet, soup- or pudding-like dish in Chinese cuisine made by fermenting glutinous rice with a starter containing yeast and Aspergillus oryzae...
or laozao in southern China. Can be considered a category of huangjiuHuangjiu is a type of Chinese beverage brewed directly from grains such as rice, millet, or wheat. Unlike baijiu, such liquors are not distilled, and contain less than 20% alcohol, due to the inhibition of fermentation by ethanol at that concentration...
.
- Pangasi - Rice wine from Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
in the Philippines.
- Raksi
Raksi or Rakshi is a traditional distilled alcoholic beverage in Tibet and Nepal. It is often made at home.Raksi is usually made from kodo millet or rice; different grains produce different flavors. It can even be made from mulberries...
- Tibetan and Nepali rice wine
- Rasi the refined wine of Hadia
- Rượu đế - a distilled liquor from Vietnam, made of either glutinous or non-glutinous rice
- Rượu cần - Vietnamese rice wine drunk through long, thin bamboo tubes
- Rượu nếp - Sweet, milky Vietnamese rice wine made from sticky rice
- Sake - Japanese rice brew
- Sato
Sato is a traditional northeastern Thailand beer style that has been made for centuries from starchy glutinous or sticky rice by growers in that region. Just as other regional varieties made not from grapes but cereal are commonly called wine rather than beer, sato is commonly called Thai rice...
- A rice wine originating in the IsanIsan is the northeastern region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Prachinburi mountains south of Nakhon Ratchasima...
region of Thailand
- Shōchū
is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from barley, sweet potatoes, or rice, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as brown sugar, buckwheat or chestnut. Typically shōchū contains 25% alcohol by volume...
- a Japanese alcoholic beverage that can be made from rice, although it is more commonly made from barley, sweet potato, or sugar cane
- Soju
Soju is a distilled beverage native to Korea. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though often slightly sweeter due to sugars added in the manufacturing process, and more commonly consumed neat.Most brands of soju are made in South Korea...
- Korean alcoholic beverage, often mistaken as rice wine, but actually almost always in combination with other ingredients such as wheat, barley, or sweet potatoes
- Sonti - Indian rice wine
- Tapuy
Philippine rice wine, popularly known as tapuy, is an alcoholic rice drink. It is a traditional beverage originated from Banaue and the Mountain Province, where it is used for important occasions such as weddings, rice harvesting ceremonies, fiestas and cultural fairs...
- Clear rice wine from the Mountain ProvinceMountain Province is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Bontoc and borders, clockwise from the south, Ifugao, Benguet, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Kalinga, and Isabela.Mountain Province is sometimes incorrectly named Mountain in some...
in the PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, also called Tapey and Bayah
- Tapai
Tapai or tape , sometimes referred to as peuyeum , is a traditional fermented food found throughout much of East- and Southeast Asia. It is a sweet or sour alcoholic paste...
- Kadazandusun rice wine (Sabah, Malaysian Borneo)
- Tuak
Tuak is an alcoholic beverage made of fermented rice, yeast and sugar and drank in parts of Indonesia such as Sumatra, Sulawesi, Penang Islands, Borneo and East Malaysia. In these areas it is often referred to as rice wine...
- Dayak rice wine (Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo)
See also
- Chinese alcoholic beverages
- Korean alcoholic beverages
- Japanese wine
Regular wine making began in Japan with the adoption of Western culture during the Meiji restoration in the second half of the 19th century. The main regions for wine production are Hokkaidō and Yamanashi Prefecture. is a red wine grape that was developed in Japan by .-History:Legend has it that...
- Vietnamese wine
Vietnamese wine is wine produced in the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam. The area was first cultivated for viticulture during the French colonial rule of the region in the late 19th century. The region's tropical climate was ill suited for the type of Vitis vinifera that the French colonists...
- Philippine Rice Wine
Further reading
- Campbell-Platt, Geoffrey (2009). Food Science and Technology. John Wiley & Sons
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...
. pp. 86–91.