Sweet rice wine at home: description, composition and recipes

Wines of Japan can be reliably attributed to rare and unique, with original taste drinks. One of the first references to the production of such wines dates back to 1697th year. To this drink the inhabitants of this country have special attention. Rice wine is even accepted as a gift, wishing at the same time a person of peace, good and long life. Of the number of such wines, the classic place, of the grains of the "nihon" variety, which is also called sake, occupies the main place. Most Japanese families have their own home-made recipe for a tasty and healthy drink.

Rice wine - sake

Sake has a strength of about 18%, depending on the variety. And there are innumerable varieties of this drink. According to statistics in the Land of the Rising Sun, there are about two and a half thousand small and large enterprises for the production of sake. In fact, everything is much larger, since at home it is also cooked in almost every self-respecting home. Rice wine is a subject of national pride of the island's inhabitants and is directly associated with the concept of "small homeland" ("furusato").

As usual, a bit of history

The origin and manufacture of Japanese wine goes back to ancient times. He was drunk more than two thousand years ago and just like that, and used in terms of divine offerings. In the long-standing isolated from the rest of the world of Japan, sweet rice wine was brewed in distilleries at the emperor's court or in monasteries. And the sake itself was an integral part of the menu of various Shinto festivals. And since the 12th century, the villagers have been mastering winemaking, and it is gradually becoming an indispensable component of Japanese customs and traditions. This function has been performed by rice wine to this day, although in modern life it is crowded with strong and not too foreign drinks - whiskey and beer, rooted in local soil.

Some subtleties of names

Previously, the name "sake" referred only to the rice drink. But over time, with the supply of other spirits to Japan, this terminology began to spread to a wider range - applying to all brands that include a certain degree. Under this name, whiskey, grape brandy, and even vodka are now also available. By the way, rice local alcohol is called "sei-syu" or "nihon-syu" (which means: Japanese wine), distinguishing it from "e-shu" (wine from Europe).

Japanese Rice Wine

This drink, sometimes called vodka from the same grains, tastes more like a liqueur. Sweet rice wine is actively used in Japanese cuisine. The alcoholic component of it is not too great: from 14% and slightly higher. And the production of wine is more associated with the process of cooking strong beer. The taste of it turns soft and gentle, sometimes the notes of sherry are significant, hardly noticeable bitterness, slightly showing the grape-apple or banana taste. For the production use a kind of rice, which has round, heavy grains with a lot of starch. "Omati" and "Yamadanishiki" are considered the best grades for production. Particular attention is paid to the quality of water. Iron with manganese is unacceptable. But there must be (in reasonable quantities, of course) calcium and potassium, magnesium and phosphorus.

Cook at home

Rice wine at home is possible to make, although the process will bring trouble, while the results you will surely pleasantly surprise.

Advice with benefit:

1. To produce high quality wine, you need the right main ingredient. The grains must be round and uncut. To wash them it is impossible in any time, as on a plane there are natural yeast (koji) that promote more effective fermentation of a must.
2. Before cooking, definitely appreciate the quality of rice! To do this, add a little cereal in a bowl, moisten with warm water (no more than 40 degrees) so that it covers the grain completely. Set aside for several days in the warmth. If it dries or rot begins, you will need to replace this important ingredient. In case fermentation has gone - raw materials are recognized as suitable for the production of home-made sake.
3. Attention: it is impossible to make high-quality wine without koji spores. They give a unique flavor and a piquant taste to this sake. Koji transforms the starches found in rice into sugars. As a result, the wine goes out delicious without introducing sugar into its composition. It is quite real, of course, to choose recipes in which there is no given ingredient, but the taste of the final product will be much worse. If you can not get it (on the Internet or a store for winemakers), you can replace them with a natural product - koji rice, on which these fungi live.

How to reduce the degree?

If wine from rice turned out to be extremely strong in terms of alcohol content, it will be extremely easy to lower the degree: you need to add a small spoonful of sugar into the vessel, close and shake until completely dissolved.

Homemade sake is usually stored for not more than a month. To extend the time, it must be sterilized. To do this, we lower the vessel for a quarter of an hour into water, heated to 60 degrees. Then cool and put in the cold for storage.

Recipe. The right ingredients

For each glass of grains take: a half cup of good water, grams of one hundred spore koji, juice of half a lemon, half a small spoon of baker's yeast. Depending on the planned amount of cooked sake, the amounts of ingredients are proportionally increased.

Preparation

1. We place the rice in a container and fill it with water. We put it away for the night, soaking it to make the wine more fragrant.
2. Cooking. This process can be done both in a saucepan and in a double boiler. Cooking a long time, on low heat. Ready (even - digested) product is cooled.
3. Squeeze a little lemon juice into the water, stirring. Then put the rice in a fermentation vessel (make sure that there is less air).
4. Add water and yeast. Close the dishes and shake until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
5. We put the must in a cool and dark place, and open the lid.
6. The bank should be shaken daily. Since the start of the fermentation process sake should stand for three weeks (until the disappearance of bubbles).
7. We merge the wine through gauze and colander, and squeeze the rice. The resulting sake, if everything is done according to the prescription, will be a fortress of 14-21 degrees.