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{{#seo:
|title=Mijiu (米酒 Chinese Rice Wine) - Chinese Food Wiki
|keywords=Mijiu,米酒,Mi Jiu,rice wine,Chinese rice wine,michiu,Taiwan rice wine,紅標米酒,glutinous rice wine,cooking rice wine
|description=Mijiu (米酒, "rice wine") is a broad Chinese name for alcoholic drinks made from rice, from light sweet home-brewed rice wine in mainland China to the clear rice spirit used in Taiwanese cooking.
}}

{{Infobox chinese food
| image = Mijiu.jpg
| caption = A bottle of Taiwanese mijiu (rice wine)
| alternate_name = 米酒; Mi Jiu; michiu; rice wine; Chinese rice wine; Taiwan rice wine (紅標米酒, "red label")
| pinyin = Mǐjiǔ
| type = Rice-based alcoholic drink: brewed rice wine or (in Taiwan) clear distilled rice spirit; usually under 20% alcohol
| course = Beverage; cooking ingredient
| country = China
| region = Especially southern China (Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Fujian and elsewhere) and [[Taiwan Food|Taiwan]]
| other = Umbrella term — overlaps with [[Huangjiu]] and [[Jiuniang]] but not identical to either
}}

'''Mijiu''' (Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 米酒; Pinyin: ''Mǐjiǔ''; literally "rice wine") is a general Chinese name for alcoholic drinks made from rice, most often glutinous rice. What people mean by ''mijiu'' depends on where they are: in many parts of mainland China it is a light, sweetish rice wine brewed at home or in small workshops, while in [[Taiwan Food|Taiwan]] it usually means a clear rice spirit of about 20% alcohol, sold mainly for cooking. Broadly, [[Huangjiu]] (such as Shaoxing wine) is a type of aged rice wine, and [[Jiuniang]] is the sweet, grain-in version eaten as a dessert.<ref name="wp">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mijiu English Wikipedia: Mijiu]</ref><ref name="zh">[https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/米酒 Chinese Wikipedia: 米酒]</ref>

== Origin and region ==

Rice has been fermented into drink in China since prehistoric times; residues at the Neolithic site of Jiahu included rice among the ingredients of a mixed fermented beverage (see [[Chinese Alcohol]]). Clear and cloudy rice wines were the everyday alcohol of southern China for centuries, and rice-wine making spread across East Asia, where related drinks include Japanese sake and Korean cheongju and makgeolli. After distilled [[Baijiu]] became popular, local rice wines remained common in the south, especially as home brews for festivals and family occasions.<ref name="wp" />

Local names vary: rice wine may be called ''tianjiu'' (甜酒, "sweet wine"), ''laozao'' (醪糟) in Sichuan, Guizhou and Jiangxi, and other dialect names in Hunan and Hubei; Xiaogan in Hubei is well known for its sweet rice wine.<ref name="zh" />

== Raw materials ==

* '''Glutinous rice''' or ordinary rice
* '''Qu''' — usually a small rice-based starter (''xiaoqu'' / ''jiuqu'')
* '''Water'''
* Taiwanese cooking rice wine is made by distillation and may be blended; cooking grades can contain added salt

Overview only — not a recipe.

== Production (overview) ==

For brewed mijiu, steamed rice is cooled, mixed with qu and left to ferment for days to weeks; the molds turn starch into sugar and the yeasts turn sugar into alcohol. The result can be drunk cloudy with the grains, or pressed and filtered into a clear wine. Longer fermentation gives a drier, stronger wine, usually still under 20% alcohol. Distilling a rice wine produces rice-aroma baijiu (米香型白酒), a different product.<ref name="zh" /><ref name="wp" />

== Style and taste ==

Brewed mijiu is clear to milky, mildly sweet and slightly sour, often with a fragrance of cooked rice; it is often served warm in winter. Taiwanese mijiu is clear and neutral, used more as a seasoning than as a drink.<ref name="wp" />

== Culture and cooking ==

In Taiwan, rice wine is essential to dishes such as [[Three Cup Chicken]] and sesame-oil chicken, and to ginger duck; the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation's "red label" rice wine (about 19.5%) is the best-known product. In the south of the mainland, home-brewed rice wine is common at the New Year and other festivals, and sweet rice wine is cooked with eggs, [[Tangyuan]] or brown sugar as a warm snack.<ref name="wp" /> For the dessert form, see [[Jiuniang]].

== Notes ==

* "Rice wine" on English-language recipes may mean Shaoxing wine ([[Huangjiu]]), Taiwanese mijiu, or Japanese sake; they taste different.
* This page makes no health claims and gives no prices.

== See also ==

* [[Chinese Alcohol]]
* [[Huangjiu]]
* [[Jiuniang]]
* [[Three Cup Chicken]]
* [[Taiwan Food]]
* [[Chinese Drink]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

Mijiu - Revision history

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