Rice wine

Bottles of Sombai (Cambodian infused rice wine / liqueur)

A bottle of cheongju, a Korean rice wine

File:Tapuy.jpeg

A bottle of Tapuy, a Philippine rice wine

Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermented and distilled from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and Northeast India. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch that has been converted to sugars. Microbes are the source of the enzymes that convert the starches to sugar.

Rice wine typically has an alcohol content of 18–25% ABV. Rice wines are used in East Asian, Southeast Asian and Northeast Indian gastronomy at formal dinners and banquets and in cooking.

List of rice wines

Name	Place of origin	Region of origin	Description
Agkud	Philippines	Southeast Asia	Fermented rice paste or rice wine of the Manobo people from Bukidnon
Apong	India	South Asia	Indigenous to the Mising tribe, an indigenous Assamese community from the northeastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh
Ara	Bhutan	South Asia	Also made with millet, or maize
Beopju	Korea	East Asia	A variety of cheongju
Brem	Bali	Southeast Asia	—
Cheongju	Korea	East Asia	Clear; refined
Cholai	West Bengal, India	South Asia	Reddish
Choujiu	Xi'an, Shaanxi, China	East Asia	A milky wine made with glutinous rice
Chuak	Tripura, northeastern state of India	South Asia	—
Dansul	Korea	East Asia	Milky; sweet
Gwaha-ju	Korea	East Asia	Fortified
Hariya	India	South Asia	White; watery
Huangjiu	China	East Asia	Fermented, literally "yellow wine" or "yellow liquor", with colors varying from clear to brown or brownish red
Lao-Lao	Laos	Southeast Asia	Clear
Lihing	Sabah, Malaysian Borneo	Southeast Asia	Kadazan-Dusun
Makgeolli	Korea	East Asia	Milky
Mijiu	China	East Asia	A clear, sweet liqueur made from fermented glutinous rice
Mirin	Japan	East Asia	Used in cooking
Pangasi	Philippines	Southeast Asia	Rice wines with ginger from the Visayas and Mindanao islands of the Philippines. Sometimes made with job's tears or cassava.
Rượu cần	Vietnam	Southeast Asia	Drunk through long, thin bamboo tubes
Sake	Japan	East Asia	The term "sake", in Japanese, literally means "alcohol", and the Japanese rice wine usually termed nihonshu (日本酒; "Japanese liquor") in Japan. It is the most widely known type of rice wine in North America because of its ubiquitous appearance in Japanese restaurants.
Sato	Isan region of Thailand	Southeast Asia	—
Shaoxing	Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China	East Asia	Probably the best known Chinese rice wine
Sombai	Cambodia	Southeast Asia	Infused with sugar cane, fruits and spices still inside the bottle
Sonti	India	South Asia	—
Tapai	Austronesian	Southeast Asia	Fermented
Tapuy	Philippines	Southeast Asia	Also called baya or tapey. Clear rice wine from Banaue and Mountain Province in the Philippines
Tuak	Borneo	Southeast Asia	Dayak
Xaaj pani	India	South Asia	Made of fermented sticky rice, by Ahom community of Assam

Rice wine in India

Manipur

Rice beer was once a part of the Manipurian diet and used as medicine. It is prepared in different ways according to preference. The Tangkhul tribe in the east of Manipur is well known for its varieties of beer. Although commonly known as "rice beer", it is divided into the following types: Leiyi, Zam, Khar, Paso and Chathur among others.

Preparation of hard liquor is restricted in certain communities but rice beer is common to every community.

See also

• Beer
• Rice wine cup
• Japanese rice wine
• Korean alcoholic beverages
• Chinese alcoholic beverages

Further reading

• Campbell-Platt, Geoffrey (2009). Food Science and Technology. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 86–91.