Creative Capital: The family handcrafting rice wine in Singapore with an heirloom recipe
Ii years ago, I learned how to make red yeast rice wine. I travelled to Fujian to visit the town that produces fourscore per cent of China'southward ruddy yeast rice; learnt how to brew the wine; and likewise learnt an one-time Peranakan recipe that uses a fermented ruby-red yeast rice and tiny shrimps.
Through that feel, I started to capeesh and beloved this traditional ingredient. I found that the lees could add together a wonderful depth to sure recipes, and the wine was the X-gene that could make sure dishes stand out.
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But making the rice wine, and the lees is, to be honest, quite a pain. It'south time-consuming and laborious. You likewise need to wait for weeks before you're able to offset using your concoction.
Enter W Rice Vino. Hand-crafted in Singapore with an heirloom recipe that dates back to 1931 and handed down for generations, this brew is aged in traditional clay barrels to produce a premium rice vino.
Launched simply last year on Aug ix by founder Sharon Ng, W Rice Wine is still in its infancy. Ng'due south son Danny, who is helping his mother with branding and marketing, said his family "wanted to start pocket-sized and build a following before taking larger steps".
Danny, who is an builder by profession, also joked that the family's ultimate dream is to run into their products on shelves in Changi airport alongside other local brands. And why not? Later on all, the nutritious wine lees – a issue of the wine making process – too makes an first-class and delicious nourishment for mail service-natal recovery.
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THE BRAND PACKAGING SAYS SINCE 1931 BUT You WERE ESTABLISHED AS A RETAIL Company ONLY LAST Twelvemonth. WHY IS THAT And so?
1931 was the yr my granddad landed – illegally – in Singapore for the start time at the age of thirteen earlier going back and along a few times. Eventually he married my grandmother in China and brought her and the kids over to Singapore. By so, he had settled in every bit a carpenter craftsman here in Singapore.
Always since my grandparents settled here in Singapore, they have made rice wine brewing a yearly affair – it'south a common family tradition in China that they brought with them. Through the years, relatives and friends who have tried the rice wine accept been encouraging u.s. to commencement a retail make for W Rice Wine.
Information technology was only afterward our grandpa's passing in 2022 that nosotros decided to practise research into what nosotros took for granted. We decided to learn a lot more virtually the craft and history of making Chinese rice wine. Later on a year of research and groundwork that included sourcing for bottling equipment, the best quality bottles and designing the brand, we established W Rice Wine in 2019.
HOW HAS THE METHOD OF BREWING THE RICE Vino Inverse SINCE THOSE Early DAYS?
The method of brewing rice wine hasn't actually changed much at all. Brewing methods were well recorded in detail in Qi Min Yao Shu (ancient agronomical text) which recorded 1500-year-old Chinese agronomy, sericulture, horticultural processes.
This, of class, included rice-wine brewing methods. With the process recorded for people to access, interested brewers could acquire proper techniques. As a result, many fine rice wines emerged afterwards one another and flourished over the years.
Tin You lot WALK US THROUGH THE BREWING Procedure THAT You lot USE?
We are notwithstanding brewing by the traditional method that has been used since the Qin, Han, and Song dynasties. As mentioned, we're lucky considering the processes were recorded in detail. They were likewise refined and matured over the years.
You get-go by selecting quality white full glutinous rice grains. You lot need to sieve these thoroughly to get rid of any impurities. The rice is and so soaked overnight to ensure that the grains cook well. After that, you rinse and wash the rice a few times until the water is clear. This is very important.
Next, you lot steam and cook the sticky rice evenly. Once cooked, yous need to lay the steamed glutinous rice to cool. Once cool, identify the rice into a fermentation pot and stir evenly after mixing with red yeast.
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We source our cherry-red yeast from a supplier here in Singapore that import products from China. Go out mixture to ferment for several weeks. Once set up, insert a rattan harvest basket into the pot to compress and wait for the liquid and sediment – lees – to separate. The clear rice wine is ready to exist harvested once the sedimentation is completed.
We so melt the rice vino and then lay it to cool thereafter. We find it all-time to store it in earthenware pots and kept cool.
WAS THE RICE Vino A MAJOR Part OF YOUR UPBRINGING OR WAS IT SOMETHING You BECAME More than Aware OF AS You lot GOT OLDER?
This is definitely something that I became more than aware of as I got older. It was simply as an adult that I realised that this heritage craft is something really unique to my family and closely tied to our roots and heritage every bit Singaporeans.
COULD YOU SHARE WITH US THE Annual BREWING TRADITION IN YOUR Family?
Chinese Rice vino is closely tied to the notion of birth and celebration. Before we decided to plant ourselves as a retail visitor last year, we simply brewed 1 pot per year and the tradition was always to brew at the stop of the year.
This is because the cooler temperatures in December are nigh platonic for the fermentation to take place. These atmospheric condition produce the finest quality of rice wine and the "harvest" is perfectly timed in line with the festive celebrations of spring and Chinese New Yr. Nosotros would always bring the wine back to my grandparents for them to gustation and approve of.
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF COOKING WITH RICE WINE LEES AND THE Wine ITSELF?
The rice wine lees is the concentrated essence of the brew. It contains amino acids, proteins, vitamins and minerals. Specifically, Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) is produced from the fermentation process. GABA helps to lower blood pressure, relieve feet and stress. That's why a lot of elderly like to sip the wine before they go to bed.
Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was actually ordered by his doctor to sip a cup of rice wine earlier going to sleep every dark as a way to reduce his feet and stress.
Also, oligosaccharides and statins, from the red yeast, are present equally a result of the fermentation process. They lower cholesterol in the human body and are responsible for improving the immune system function while too reducing inflammation at the aforementioned time.
In summary, natural wellness benefits include lowering cholesterol, reducing inflammation, improving immune system functions, lowering blood pressure, relieving feet and stress, promoting good stomach health, and promoting blood apportionment.
IS THE Wine YOU BREW Just FOR COOKING? DO YOU HAVE PLANS FOR AN Aged WINE THAT IS FOR SIPPING AND General DRINKING?
The rice vino we brew is non only for cooking; information technology can be sipped as well. And aye, we practice accept our secret stash of aged rice wine and have heady plans ahead in the coming years to produce more for sharing with our customers.
ANY FAVOURITE RECIPES INVOLVING EITHER RICE WINE OR Vino LEES?
We have two favourites. A delicious pan-seared yellow croaker steamed in premium rice wine and a heavenly pork loin and kidney soup with premium rice wine.
ARE ALL YOUR RICE Vino HAND-CRAFTED? ARE Yous ONLY PRODUCING Minor BATCHES AT THE MOMENT?
Yes, all our rice wine is hand-crafted. We are producing about 80 to 100 bottles per calendar month currently. When we soft launched the band on National Mean solar day last year, we only had a traditional earthenware pot that could produce around 20 bottles.
Equally more people tried it, the orders started to increase and we had to work fast and around the clock to source for more than of traditional brewing equipment to increase the amount of handcrafted rice wine.
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HOW DOES ONE TELL THE Divergence IN QUALITY Between DIFFERENT GRADES OF RICE WINE AND Vino LEES? WHAT SHOULD I Be LOOKING OUT FOR WHEN TASTING?
You should guess based on four criteria: Kickoff it's color. Good rice wine should have good clarity in colour when placed against a lit backdrop.
Adjacent is aroma – it should have a mellow and pleasant, mature fragrance. Thirdly, it'due south taste. The flavour should have hints of sweet, savoury, bitter, acidic and freshness.
And finally, character. The rice wine should exhibit a harmonious combination of the above. That is characteristic of the finest brew.
WAS STARTING THE Company DAUNTING?
That is a definite yes. Information technology was quite a challenge in all respects as nosotros had niggling or no prior experience in this industry. In that location were challenges at every single phase of the kickoff-upwards –from sourcing the bottles to getting the sealing machines to work.
At the same fourth dimension, we had to time our harvests perfectly to lucifer up with increasing customers' orders while meantime sourcing for more equipment.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE GREATEST AND HAPPIEST PART OF THE Procedure SO FAR?
Nosotros think the nearly rewarding part of the process would be seeing the joy from our customers who accept used, tasted and wrote in to say that this is the best rice wine they have tasted so far.
WHAT DO YOU Hope TO ACHIEVE WITH W RICE WINE?
Nosotros started W Rice Wine with the pure intention to retain a slice of our heritage through sharing this artisanal craft with more than people. We oft joke that the dream would be to take our rice vino displayed alongside other Singapore brands at the aerodrome. For now, it's still a dream.
HOW HAS STARTING THIS BUSINESS WITH (AND FOR) YOUR MOM AFFECTED YOUR Human relationship WITH EACH OTHER?
Information technology hasn't in whatever way actually. In fact, the whole family is working nicely together and every single person has been encouraging the other family members in dissimilar means.
WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE Not FAMILIAR WITH THIS Product KNOW AND Sympathize?
That rice vino has function of Mainland china's and Singapore'southward culinary heritage for many years. It's not but a good food production. This artisanal food embodies a part of our gastronomic culture and heritage.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/creative-capital-artisanal-w-rice-wine-singapore-recipe-177226
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