If you live in or have been to China, Hong Kong or other parts of Asia, chances are high that you have heard of Jiujiang double distilled rice wine. What you may not know is that they actually starting producing sake last year?! It has been viral on the Internet and since Jiujiang is such a huge brand, I have decided to give it a try out of curiosity.
The process of rice wine making in China does share some similarities with sake brewing, I am actually quite excited to see how it is going to taste.
Their sake brand is called 本味寒造 (ben3 wei4 han2 zao4). I have bought their ume-shu (plum wine). The petite bottle of 300 mL is great for adventurous drinker, it won’t be too much that if you find you do not like the wine, you feel bad to have to throw such a big bottle away; and the price is quite affordable as well! Once I opened the bottle, the scent of green plum makes a great impression. The taste of alcohol isn’t too much, yet it is not too sweet. It tastes very smooth and DOES tastes like ume-shu. I am IMPRESSED!
The wine you use while cooking/preparing meals is just as important as the ingredients themselves. In Western cuisines when they cook with red/white wines, it is also important to make sure you use wine of good quality. Hence it is just a very logical next step for me (And as a Guangzhounese who is picky about food!) to try to cook using this ume-shu.
The sweet and sourness is a perfect match with such hot weather, so I have added it to the braised duck with lemongrass. Adding the ume-shu just makes the already-great dish even more aromatic. The sourness cancels out the oiliness of the meat, the scent of lemongrass and plum goes extremely well with rice. What a perfect combo for summer!
Review: 3/5 stars
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