Mijiu
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A bottle of Taiwanese mijiu (rice wine)
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Mijiu (Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 米酒; Pinyin: Mǐjiǔ; literally "rice wine") is a general Chinese name for alcoholic drinks made from rice, most often glutinous rice. What people mean by mijiu depends on where they are: in many parts of mainland China it is a light, sweetish rice wine brewed at home or in small workshops, while in Taiwan it usually means a clear rice spirit of about 20% alcohol, sold mainly for cooking. Broadly, Huangjiu (such as Shaoxing wine) is a type of aged rice wine, and Jiuniang is the sweet, grain-in version eaten as a dessert.[1][2]
Origin and region
Rice has been fermented into drink in China since prehistoric times; residues at the Neolithic site of Jiahu included rice among the ingredients of a mixed fermented beverage (see Chinese Alcohol). Clear and cloudy rice wines were the everyday alcohol of southern China for centuries, and rice-wine making spread across East Asia, where related drinks include Japanese sake and Korean cheongju and makgeolli. After distilled Baijiu became popular, local rice wines remained common in the south, especially as home brews for festivals and family occasions.[1]
Local names vary: rice wine may be called tianjiu (甜酒, "sweet wine"), laozao (醪糟) in Sichuan, Guizhou and Jiangxi, and other dialect names in Hunan and Hubei; Xiaogan in Hubei is well known for its sweet rice wine.[2]
Raw materials
- Glutinous rice or ordinary rice
- Qu — usually a small rice-based starter (xiaoqu / jiuqu)
- Water
- Taiwanese cooking rice wine is made by distillation and may be blended; cooking grades can contain added salt
Overview only — not a recipe.
Production (overview)
For brewed mijiu, steamed rice is cooled, mixed with qu and left to ferment for days to weeks; the molds turn starch into sugar and the yeasts turn sugar into alcohol. The result can be drunk cloudy with the grains, or pressed and filtered into a clear wine. Longer fermentation gives a drier, stronger wine, usually still under 20% alcohol. Distilling a rice wine produces rice-aroma baijiu (米香型白酒), a different product.[2][1]
Style and taste
Brewed mijiu is clear to milky, mildly sweet and slightly sour, often with a fragrance of cooked rice; it is often served warm in winter. Taiwanese mijiu is clear and neutral, used more as a seasoning than as a drink.[1]
Culture and cooking
In Taiwan, rice wine is essential to dishes such as Three Cup Chicken and sesame-oil chicken, and to ginger duck; the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation's "red label" rice wine (about 19.5%) is the best-known product. In the south of the mainland, home-brewed rice wine is common at the New Year and other festivals, and sweet rice wine is cooked with eggs, Tangyuan or brown sugar as a warm snack.[1] For the dessert form, see Jiuniang.
Notes
- "Rice wine" on English-language recipes may mean Shaoxing wine (Huangjiu), Taiwanese mijiu, or Japanese sake; they taste different.
- This page makes no health claims and gives no prices.