How to Make Sweet Sticky Rice Wine in Northern Style for the Double Fifth Festival

How to prepare Northern sticky rice wine

• 1

  Prepare the sticky rice

  First, rinse the sticky rice thoroughly. Next, soak the sticky rice in cold water for about 4 – 6 hours. After that, drain the sticky rice and rinse it again with cold water, then pour the rice onto a rack to let it dry and start cooking.

  

  

  
• 2

  Making Sticky Rice

  Mix the sticky rice with a small pinch of salt before cooking it.

  You can use various methods to cook sticky rice, here are 3 methods:

  • Method 1: Use a steamer: Simply add water to the bottom of the pot, bring it to a boil, then pour the rice into the top tier, and steam for about 30 minutes until cooked. The steam will cook the rice evenly without worrying about it being dry or mushy.
  • Method 2: Cook sticky rice like regular rice. Pour the rice into a rice cooker, add filtered water, ensuring the water level is about half a finger above the rice, and start cooking until the rice is done.
  • Method 3: Cook using a pot as people used to do in the old days over a wood fire. The process is similar to cooking in a rice cooker, but you need to pay attention to the flame level, and when the rice boils, you need to stir it well to prevent it from sticking to the pot or burning.

  

  

  

  
• 3

  Grinding the yeast

  After the sticky rice is cooked, spread it evenly on a plate or on a tray to let it cool down. Once the rice cools down a bit and is still slightly warm, you can start mixing the rice with the yeast.

  While waiting for the rice to cool, you can begin to grind the yeast. When buying yeast at the market, it usually comes in solid form, so you need to grind it finely and sift the yeast powder through a sieve to make it smooth.

  

  
• 4

  Mixing sticky rice with yeast

  Add the rice and yeast and mix them well together. You can mix with a spoon or, preferably, wear gloves for the best mixing.

  

  
• 5

  Put the rice wine into the jar

  Put the rice mixed with yeast into the prepared jar, pressing the rice down a bit (not too tightly, to allow air for the yeast to work).

  Finally, close the jar and let it ferment for about 3 – 5 days.

  

  
• 6

  Final product

  The sticky rice wine is successful when you see liquid oozing out of the rice, with a slight yeast taste, the spiciness of the alcohol, and the sweetness of the syrup and sticky rice.

  It’s very easy to have a delicious sticky rice wine recipe at home, isn’t it? Wish you success!