Clear Korean Rice Wine (Traditional Fermented Yakju)

Name: Clear Korean Rice Wine (Traditional Fermented Yakju)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: glutinous rice 600 g; nuruk 100 g; water 2000 ml; dry yeast 1 tsp; ginger 10 g; jujube 2 pcs

Quick answer

Active time: 60 min
Waiting: See the steps
Level: Hard
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 6

About this dish

Steamed glutinous rice and nuruk, a traditional Korean fermentation starter, ferment in a shady spot for more than a week until clear wine rises to the top.

Unlike makgeolli, which is strained with the solids, only that top layer is gently drawn off, so yakju comes out a transparent gold. During fermentation it gets one stir a day with a sanitized paddle. The drawn-off wine is bottled, rested in the fridge for two days, and poured cold into small cups.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

jujube2 pcs

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Instructions

6 steps

1

Rinse 600g of premium glutinous rice until the water runs clear, soak for 4 hours, then steam for 35 minutes until firm and spread it on a tray to cool completely.
2

Crush 100g of traditional nuruk into fine pieces and combine it with 2000ml of clean water and 1 teaspoon of dry yeast to create a potent fermentation starter liquid.
3

Mix the cooled steamed rice, fermentation starter, 10g of sliced ginger, and 2 jujubes in a sanitized ceramic jar, stirring gently by hand to ensure the rice grains stay intact.
4

Cover the jar with cheesecloth and ferment in a cool spot between 20C and 22C for 7 to 10 days, making sure to stir the mixture once every single day.
5

Once fermentation is complete and the liquid clears, let the solids settle to the bottom and carefully siphon off the golden, transparent upper liquid into a clean glass bottle.
6

Age the bottled wine in the refrigerator for 2 additional days to stabilize the flavor profile, then serve chilled in small ceramic cups for a traditional and refined tasting experience.