【自制红曲米酒和红糟】Home-Made Chinese Red Yeast Rice Wine and Vinesse （Foo Chow Ang Jiu & Ang Chow)

我阿嬷在生的时候每每家里有媳妇孙子要生孩子的时候，她都会亲手酿制米酒给子孙做月子，老人家每次都会多酿好几瓶给我妈，就因为知道我爱吃姜酒鸡。我阿姨那天才调侃我说，我妈坐月子的时候，一吃饭我就爱挨着妈妈讨鸡肉块吃。

现在阿嬷不在了，再也没有人给我酿米酒啦！我阿嬷不识字，食谱都是用记的，每次材料都让我妈帮忙买，所以我就打电话问妈妈材料，再根据网上的资料，生平第一次酿了红米酒。

妈妈在电话里很遗憾地说，你阿嬷在生的时候你不生孩子，不然，她都可以酿给你做月子呢！说完我们两个就沉默了。

三年半前我怀着俊宝大约六个月的时候，我就开始自己酿制红麴米酒，给自己的月子做准备。当时分几次酿制了十瓶的酒和好多的红糟。红糟我送了不少给朋友们，酒月子里只吃了几瓶，剩下的越来越醇厚，酒味越来越浓，做菜比买来的料酒香很多，非常棒！

Grandma used to make this homemade rice wine for anyone who is due for baby in the family, it is an essential for the lady's confinement we used it in every dish we cooked for the mother within 30 days after the baby is born, this period is called confinement period.

Grandma also made sure to make a few more bottles of this wine for my house, my brothers and I are big fan of Rice wine chicken.

My aunt was teasing me the other day that she remembers me asking for mum's confinement foods when mom gave birth to my youngest brother....

Now that grandma is no more. I just feel that this increasingly disappearing tradition should be remembered and recorded.

材料：

1200克 糯米

150克 红麯米

半颗酒曲 （大约 1 tsp）

2500克 凉开水或蒸馏水

Ingredients：
1200 gm glutinous rice (the round shape one works better)
150 gm red yeast rice (Ang kak/红麯米）
1/2 ball or 1 tsp of Rice Starter （Jiu Piah/酒曲/酒饼）
2500 gm of boiled water cooled down to room temperature or distilled water

1. 糯米洗干净泡水一个晚上，米粒要吸包水份，第二天泡好的米应该可以很容易的用手指头捏成一半，这样就差不多了。把2500克的凉开水加入红麯米也泡一个晚上。

2. 第二天，把糯米沥干，滚水入锅蒸一个小时。我用了两层的竹笼子，间中上下笼调换位置。蒸好的米粒应该还是颗粒状的，但是没有硬心。摊开放凉。

 注：糯米最好不要用煮的，煮的糯米容易烂，做米酒容易失败。

3. 把半颗酒曲捣成粉末状，我觉得我的这个印度小铜捣臼简直就是天生要用来捣酒曲的，形状大小刚刚好，捣几下酒曲就变粉末状了，还不会乱纷飞的。真好！等糯米变凉了之后，加入泡好的红麯米和水里，撒入酒曲，搅拌让米饭粒散开。

注：酿酒的器具最好是瓷器或者玻璃的，而且要清理得非常干净，我用洗碗机的消毒功能洗过一次，晾干了才用的。这样是避免米酒变质败坏。

4. 摆到温暖的通风的地方，每3-4天用干净的勺子搅拌一次让发酵均匀。第三天就酒香四溢了，稍微尝了一下，好甜喔！

注：记得不能放在太闷热潮湿的地方，酒会发酸喔！

5. 20-30天后，米粒已经成粥品状，而且酒味很浓了。就可以过滤装瓶。

注：我们那里的老人家也有等到30天才过滤的，说那样味道比较浓，基本上等到米粒都沉淀了才收成。这就看个人喜好了。

一次共酿了三瓶半的酒，和两盒的酒槽。

1.Wash and soak glutinous rice overnight to make sure it is fully soaked.

Note: to see if it is ready, break one grain with your finger the next day, if it is easily broken into half, the rice is ready.

2. At the same time, in a clean glass or clay container, mix together red yeast rice and 2500 gm of cold boiled /distilled water.

Note: it is very important to use clean container without oil or any possible residue that could cause contamination to the wine, a drop of oil is enough to spoil the soup... opppss the wine, I mean.

3. The next day, drain the water out from glutinous rice, bring half pot of water to boil and steam the glutinous rice for an hour. I used muslin cloth with bamboo steamer to steam the rice, it let the steam penetrate through the rice and cooks the rice better without over cooking it.

4. As my bamboo steamer has double layer, I swapped the upper layer with the lower in between for even steaming. You could also sprinkle some water on the surface while swapping as it normally dries up a little during the cooking process.

Note：it is better not to cook the glutinous rice using rice cooker as the cooker normally over cooked the rice and make it mushy, mushy rice made sourish wine, which we should try to avoid at any cost.

5. When the rice is cooked, loosen and spread to let it cool down completely.

6. In a mortar and pastel, pound the wine starter into powder.

7. Add the cooled rice into the pre-soaked red yeast rice and water, sprinkle wine starter and stir it well.

8. Place the container cap, but do not tightened it, the brewing process produce quite a bit of gas and this will let the gas release naturally. Leave the container at a well ventilated place at room temperature.

9. Stir it every 3-4 days with a very clean spatula. It was already smells like wine after 4 days and tasting real sweet.

Note：Do not leave the container at warm and humid place as it could attract bacterias or over ferment the rice turning the wine into vinegar!

10. Harvest the wine and rice residue/lees/vinesse after 20-30 days, whenever the wine is ready. The rice should look a little porridge like in texture and has slight alcohol smell, when the rice precipitate naturally at the bottom, the rice is ready. Harvest time depending on weather and temperature. It normally takes longer in winter and shorter time in summer.

11. Filter and bottled the wine, keep the rice residue/lees/vinesse (Ang Chow/红糟）too, it is a great cooking ingredients.

12. This recipe made 3 and 1/2 bottles of wine and 2 boxes of Ang chow. Both could be stored at dry cold place for more than a year or as long as it last!

Note：I grind my Ang Chow (Red yeast rice wine lees) into a smooth paste and keep in tight container and refrigerate. It is the best food coloring and great for marinates.

三年后酒已经成为琥珀色了，味道醇香，非常好。

This is how the wine looks after 3 years, clear and golden in color, smells great and good for cooking!

中文-- 自制红酒和红糟