With the arrival of Dragon Boat Festival, China has had the custom of brewing realgar wine since ancient times. How is realgar wine brewed?
As the saying goes, "drinking realgar wine will cure all diseases." Realgar is a mineral, commonly known as "Jiguanshi". Its main component is arsenic sulfide, which contains mercury and is toxic. The common realgar wine is made by adding a small amount of realgar to white wine or homemade yellow wine, and there is no pure drink. Realgar wine has the efficacy of sterilization, insect repellent and detoxification, and traditional Chinese medicine is also used to treat skin diseases. In ancient times, when there was no disinfectant such as iodine, soaking in realgar could detoxify and relieve itching.
? So how is realgar wine brewed? We can divide it into ten steps:?
? 1, July of the lunar calendar.
For fine wine, medicinal liquor is a real aperitif. The raw materials of medicinal liquor are early indica rice flour and Polygonum hydropiper, and the medicinal liquor is rich in saccharifying and fermenting fungi. In the seventh month of the lunar calendar, high temperature and moderate humidity are the seasons for wine making and pharmacy.
? 2. Make wheat koji in mid-August of the lunar calendar.
Wheat koji is an important auxiliary material for brewing, and its main function is to be used as saccharifying agent. The quality of finished wine has a great relationship with the quality of wheat koji. Generally, the production of wheat koji by farmers is seasonal, and the historical habit is to make it in August and September of the lunar calendar. At this time, it is the season of sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance, so people call Maiqu "Sweet-scented osmanthus Qu".
? 3. Before and after heavy snow, put glutinous rice for brewing.
After the solar term of heavy snow, it is brewed with the best glutinous rice and the best water in the south of the Yangtze River, plus wine and wheat koji.
? Step 4 ferment
The beauty of wine lies in its fragrance, "fragrance depends on fermentation". Fermentation technology directly determines the flavor and quality of wine. The "Open Fermentation" and "Closed Fermentation" or "Double Fermentation, Yin and Yang Fermentation" were adopted in the "Five-Five" realgar wine.
? 5. In the second year, beginning of spring pressed and fried wine.
Squeezing fried wine can promote the aging of yellow rice wine, eliminate the odor of original wine and improve the quality of wine.
? 6, mud seal storage for more than 5 years.
Pour the wine into a sterilized pottery jar, cover the mouth of the jar with the boiled sterilized lotus leaf, cover the lotus leaf with a small tile cover, and then wrap it with the boiled sterilized bamboo leaves. The mouth of the jar is tied tightly with filaments, and the outside is sealed with mud. The most common base wine of "Five-Five" realgar wine will be stored for 5 years. The older the wine, the better, and some will reach 20 or even 30 years.
? 7, the golden ratio mixed "male" and "yellow" meet.
Take Eucommia ulmoides as an example. Male flowers and yellow essence, namely "1" Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. Male flowers and "3~20" Polygonatum, and mix them.
? 8. Extraction, bloodline
Eucommia mixture. Male flowers and Astragalus membranaceus were soaked in pure water for 24 hours, and then extracted. Extract two kinds of medicinal materials, and then deeply filter them. Then cooling, etc.
? 9. Ratio of extract to base wine
The ratio of extractive solution to yellow rice wine is 3%-8%. Adjust the proportion according to different product types. Storage and aging. After mixing the products, avoid direct sunlight and store them in a cool place for a period of time.
? 10, canning
When the aged products are put into the wine bottle, it is particularly important to note that the wine bottle draws on the elements of the end door and the meridian door of the Forbidden City and presents a royal atmosphere. After thousands of years, the herbal realgar wine, which inherits China's health and wisdom, was born.