Rice wine
Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermented and distilled from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and Northeast India. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch that has been converted to sugars. Microbes are the source of the enzymes that convert the starches to sugar.
Rice wine typically has an alcohol content of 18–25% ABV. Rice wines are used in East Asian, Southeast Asian and Northeast Indian gastronomy at formal dinners and banquets and in cooking.
List of rice wines
| Name | Place of origin | Region of origin | Description |
| Agkud | Philippines | Southeast Asia | Fermented rice paste or rice wine of the Manobo people from Bukidnon |
| Apong | India | South Asia | Indigenous to the Mising tribe, an indigenous Assamese community from the northeastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh |
| Ara | Bhutan | South Asia | Also made with millet, or maize |
| Beopju | Korea | East Asia | A variety of cheongju |
| Brem | Bali | Southeast Asia | — |
| Cheongju | Korea | East Asia | Clear; refined |
| Cholai | West Bengal, India | South Asia | Reddish |
| Choujiu | Xi'an, Shaanxi, China | East Asia | A milky wine made with glutinous rice |
| Chuak | Tripura, northeastern state of India | South Asia | — |
| Dansul | Korea | East Asia | Milky; sweet |
| Gwaha-ju | Korea | East Asia | Fortified |
| Hariya | India | South Asia | White; watery |
| Huangjiu | China | East Asia | Fermented, literally "yellow wine" or "yellow liquor", with colors varying from clear to brown or brownish red |
| Lao-Lao | Laos | Southeast Asia | Clear |
| Lihing | Sabah, Malaysian Borneo | Southeast Asia | Kadazan-Dusun |
| Makgeolli | Korea | East Asia | Milky |
| Mijiu | China | East Asia | A clear, sweet liqueur made from fermented glutinous rice |
| Mirin | Japan | East Asia | Used in cooking |
| Pangasi | Philippines | Southeast Asia | Rice wines with ginger from the Visayas and Mindanao islands of the Philippines. Sometimes made with job's tears or cassava. |
| Rượu cần | Vietnam | Southeast Asia | Drunk through long, thin bamboo tubes |
| Sake | Japan | East Asia | The term "sake", in Japanese, literally means "alcohol", and the Japanese rice wine usually termed nihonshu in Japan. It is the most widely known type of rice wine in North America because of its ubiquitous appearance in Japanese restaurants. |
| Sato | Isan region of Thailand | Southeast Asia | — |
| Shaoxing | Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China | East Asia | Probably the best known Chinese rice wine |
| Sombai | Cambodia | Southeast Asia | Infused with sugar cane, fruits and spices still inside the bottle |
| Sonti | India | South Asia | — |
| Tapai | Austronesian | Southeast Asia | Fermented |
| Tapuy | Philippines | Southeast Asia | Also called baya or tapey. Clear rice wine from Banaue and Mountain Province in the Philippines |
| Tuak | Borneo | Southeast Asia | Dayak |
| Xaaj pani | India | South Asia | Made of fermented sticky rice, by Ahom community of Assam |
Rice wine in India
Manipur
Rice beer was once a part of the Manipurian diet and used as medicine. It is prepared in different ways according to preference. The Tangkhul tribe in the east of Manipur is well known for its varieties of beer. Although commonly known as "rice beer", it is divided into the following types: Leiyi, Zam, Khar, Paso and Chathur among others.Preparation of hard liquor is restricted in certain communities but rice beer is common to every community.