Greg Cook wrote:

> On 6/6/04 6:05 PM, in article ,
> "Marc" > wrote:
>
>
>>I know Sake is made with a special japanese rice called Koji. However, I
>>made some using regular long grain rice and golden raisins, a recipe similar
>>to Jack's recipe, and I was satisfied with the result. It tasted as good as
>>the few brands of sake avalaible in liquor boards in Quebec.
>>
>>Marc
>>
>>"Weez" > a écrit dans le message de
. ..
>>
>>>Does anyone know the difference between rice wine and sake?
>>>Are the flavours so different?
>>>Can the differences be described?
>>>Can they be used one instead of the other and will most people know the
>>>difference?
>>>Has anyone tried Jack's recipe for Rice wine and what was the outcome?
>>>OK, I'm done!
>>>Louise)
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
> Let me clarify this a little bit. The Japanese rice wine, sake, is made from
> fermenting rice. Rice is mostly starch, and starch cannot be fermented
> unless broken up into smaller sugars. Koji is not a type of rice, but a
> particular mold that produces an enzyme that will convert the starch in rice
> to sugars. Otherwise, you would need to add sugars to be fermented. Most of
> the "rice wine" recipes I see on the winemaking sites simply use rice as a
> flavoring and add sugar to ferment. True Japanese sake has flavors and
> aromas that arise from the koji as well as the rice and yeast. I understand
> the rice that is used is also very special and is polished all the way down
> to the inner kernal.

And is this the differnece between Sake and chinese rice wine?