Chapter 265: Chapter 91 Fermented Rice
It is often said that customers are like gods, and for Du Xixi, these fan viewers are undoubtedly the "customer gods."
Seeing that they didn’t mind the appearance of Yiyi and Er Er, and even welcomed it, Du Xixi breathed a sigh of relief. She signaled to Ke Lian nearby to take the clingy little ones from her.
Du Xixi patted the small heads of her two sons, who were already waving their little hands wanting to be held, then resolutely turned her head away, not wanting them to distract her further.
She took a deep breath and refocused her attention on the dish she was going to make today: "Everyone should have heard me mention ’sweet rice wine’ before, right? Today, I’ll teach everyone how to make it!"
Sweet rice wine, also known as sweet wine, wine lees, or rice dregs, is clear and slightly sour, with a mellow sweetness that intoxicates. It first presents a sweet and sour taste, then extends with a lingering wine aroma, like a silent warmth nourishing body and mind.
To make sweet rice wine, you need to mix steamed glutinous rice with yeast and let it ferment for a specified period. It’s sweet and tasty, and consuming it during hot summer days can help cool and relieve heat.
Moreover, sweet rice wine can enhance beauty and is especially beneficial to women.
"The first step in making sweet rice wine is to wash the glutinous rice and soak it in cold water for about twelve hours," Du Xixi said, bringing over a large basin of glutinous rice from the side counter, with a milky water layer still over the rice grains. "I soaked this overnight beforehand."
After pouring out the cloudy water from soaking the rice, Du Xixi rolled up her sleeves up to her elbows to make sure they wouldn’t fall down and inserted her clean hands into the rice, casually grabbing a handful.
Du Xixi pinched two plump grains of white glutinous rice with her index and thumb, looking satisfied as they easily crumbled, having absorbed enough water.
Du Xixi nodded with satisfaction, pouring all the rice onto a sieve, then rinsed the seemingly clean grains thoroughly under running water.
She said, "The rice should be soaked until it crumbles easily when pinched. Remember, you must wash it several more times to ensure the resulting wine is clear and bright; otherwise, it will turn cloudy with a strange taste."
The washed rice is placed on the steamer cloth, poked with chopsticks to make small holes, and then it’s time to steam. Du Xixi spread the cloth evenly in the steamer, covered it, and waited for the forty minutes to pass.
During the wait, Du Xixi reminded everyone, "It must be fully steamed until there are no hard cores in the rice grains; otherwise, the rice wine will turn raw again! Turning raw means the rice transforms back into uncooked glutinous rice during fermentation."
While Ke Lian was holding the two sons, forty minutes swiftly passed as Du Xixi entertained them. She turned around and used a cloth to open the steamer, revealing the translucent rice meal to everyone with its strong sweet aroma wafting through.
After cooling, the rice is mixed with cold boiled water, put into the yeast, placed in a large earthenware pot, and flattened out with a bowl-sized circular hole punched in the middle.
Undeniably, nearly ten pounds of soaked glutinous rice is substantial, and Du Xixi felt her arms starting to ache.
"All good food is worth the wait. It’ll be two or three more days before our sweet rice wine is ready to meet you." As Du Xixi covered the big earthenware pot with a layer of non-breathable cloth and an insect-proof net, she turned to the livestream with a warm voice and said, "I’ll organize the specific brewing steps and conditions and post them on Star Network, so interested friends can check it out themselves!"
[——Comparing cutting meat, this kind of strenuous work with a template is more suitable for us...
——Every LS in the comments section always speaks the truth in everyone’s hearts!
——"JPG. Agree!"
——Madam said we have to wait for two or three days, I’m really looking forward to the taste of the finished product!
——That sweet and sour taste...I’ve tasted the sour from the spicy potato slivers, what sort of sweetness is Madam recommending?
——In the red braised pork which Madam taught before, it seemed to use some kind of white sugar? I found it kind of sweet too, should be similar right?