Tết Đoan Ngọ or Mid-Year Festival, falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month every year. This is a traditional holiday celebrated in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, South Korea, North Korea, and China. In Vietnam, Tết Đoan Ngọ is also known as the Pest Control Tet. To this day, the custom of worshipping Tết Đoan Ngọ is still preserved in many provinces and cities throughout the country because this is an important occasion for family reunions and to eliminate pests during their most rampant period.
Typically, the food eaten on Tết Đoan Ngọ includes dishes such as rice wine, banh u troi (floating cake), and che troi nuoc (sweet dumplings in ginger syrup). When it comes to rice wine, glutinous rice wine and colored glutinous rice wine can be said to be essential dishes in the offering tray on Tết Đoan Ngọ. The reason given by the ancients is that there are parasitic organisms harmful to the human body, deep in the stomach, which are difficult to eliminate. Foods with a sour or bitter taste, especially glutinous rice wine, can eliminate them. Moreover, it is recommended to consume it in the morning, right after waking up.
(Photo: Internet)
Making rice wine is not difficult. Nowadays, although rice wine is widely available on Tết Đoan Ngọ, many women have shown their talent in making beautiful and delicious rice wine. After a few days of fermentation, you will get transparent and fragrant rice wine balls.
However, many women have mentioned the only problem they often encounter when making rice wine is that sometimes the glutinous rice does not release enough wine, while other times the rice balls disintegrate easily. In fact, the deliciousness of rice balls depends on the glutinous rice you cook. If you cook the sticky rice too dry, it will not release much wine. On the other hand, if the glutinous rice is cooked too sticky, the rice balls won’t be firm and will easily disintegrate.
To fix this, first, remember to use one type of glutinous rice to cook the rice, do not mix new and old glutinous rice together. Next, you should cook the glutinous rice in a 1:1 ratio, meaning 1kg of glutinous rice will use 1 liter of water to cook. Just remember these two principles and you will have a pot of delicious glutinous rice for making rice wine.
Wishing you success and remember to share this secret with everyone.
(Source: Compiled)