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Fermentation Atlas

Alcoholic drinks from Korea

Ihwaju (pear-blossom wine)이화주

Ihwaju is an old Korean rice wine named after the pear blossom; an 18th-century text says to brew it after the pear trees flower. Steamed rice flour is mixed with this rice nuruk and malt powder and packed into a jar with no added water. It ripens into a very sweet, low-alcohol wine that keeps for a year without heating or preservatives. Made in 7 steps over 17 days. The longest step, incubate the nuruk, takes 10 days (Kim J.O 1993) and runs at 25–28 °C (Kim J.O 1993). Aspergillus oryzae, the only mould grown from the rice nuruk and Hansenula sp., the only yeast grown from the rice nuruk do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step10 daysReported[kim1993]Incubate the nuruk
Temperature25–28 °CReported[kim1993]Incubate the nuruk
AciditypH 3.9Reported[kim1993]Ferment and keep in the jar

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceOne batch reconstructed in 1991 by Kim and Kim from a traditional maker in Andong, using about 4.8 kg of rice for the wine and 1.8 kg for the nuruk.
1,770 g (1 doe)Non-glutinous rice · For the rice nuruk[kim1993]
3,540 g (2 doe)Non-glutinous rice · For the wine[kim1993]
1,300 g (half a doe)Glutinous rice · For the wine[kim1993]
800 gRice nuruk powder[kim1993]
250 gMalt powder (yeotgireum)[kim1993]
About 540–720 mLSoju · Sprinkled on the mash and its surface to keep it from drying[kim1993]
Starterkoji/qu/mold-starter (rice nuruk, ihwagok)

Total time across the recorded steps: 17 days

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a grain16–20 °C

What changes: Rice soaks for days in cool water until it softens and smells sour

Step 1 of 7
Soak rice for the nuruk
Time
6 days
Reported
Temperature
16–20 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus oryzae
Moulds
Yeasts

In trial soaks the rice took 12 days at 12 °C, 7 days at 14–15 °C and 5–6 days at 16–18 °C. A rank smell and a scum on the water show the soak is working. Output: soaked, softened rice.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Ihwaju is made with a nuruk of rice instead of wheat, and with no water added to the mash, so it stays very sweet and low in alcohol. Wikipedia's makgeolli article describes it as thick enough to eat with a spoon. The rice nuruk carries mainly one mould, Aspergillus oryzae, and one yeast, Hansenula, unlike the mixed flora of wheat nuruk.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Nuruk in Sallim gyeongje (about 1715)Rice flour is shaped into egg-sized balls three days before the first pig day (haeil) of the first lunar month, wrapped in pine needles and kept 28 days in a room that is not warm.
  • Jeungbo sallim gyeongje method (1766)The wine is brewed after the pear blossom; rice flour is made into ring cakes, boiled, cooled and mixed with nuruk powder. It is ready in 7 days in spring and 3 days in summer, with the jar set in water.

Safety

In the 1993 study the wine kept for a year without heat treatment or preservatives, at about pH 3.9.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Ihwaju recipes appear in Korean texts from the early 18th century, including Sallim gyeongje (about 1715) and Jeungbo sallim gyeongje (1766). In 1991 Kim and Kim recorded the method from a traditional maker in Andong and brewed it.

  1. [kim1993] Kim J.O., Kim J.G. 1993, Microbial and enzymatic properties related to brewing of traditional Ewhaju (전통 이화주의 양조와 관련된 미생물 및 효소적 특성), Korean Journal of Food and Cookery Science 9(4):266–271paper
  2. [WP:Makgeolli] Wikipedia, Makgeolli (outline only)wiki