Beginner Friendly Korean Rice Wine recipe

Ingredients:
2kg Glutinous Rice
2l Filtered or bottled water + 1l for watering down later
200g Nuruk (search "Nuruk" on Amazon to find it)
A rough breakdown of the steps:
- wash rice until water runs clear and soak the rice for at least 2 hours (ideally overnight)
- drain the rice for at least 40 minutes
- steam the rice until al dente
- While rice is steaming, mix the nuruk into the water and let it soak
- once cooked, allow the rice to cool completely
- In a large bowl, combine the rice, water and nuruk and massage together using clean hands
- transfer to the fermentation vessel and cover with cheesecloth
- on the first, second and third day of fermenting, mix the makgeolli as thoroughly as possible then leave it untouched for 3 to 4 days
- after a week of fermenting, give one final mix and strain the makgeolli to remove the solids
- water down the makgeolli with another litre of water then bottle
- let rest in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, making sure to burp every so often
- ENJOY YOUR MAKGEOLLI
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[@LeeNotLi]

What I did: Started steaming a rice->overcooked it -> ate a little bit of rice -> full man is a happy man -> decided to have a little drink after a great portion of rice -> remembered that I’m ethnic Korean and bottled soju in my country cost like the small country in Africa -> drunk some vodka But jokes aside it’s a good recipe! Love your content!

[@FollyChang]

The formula is really simple: 2kg of water, 2kg of rice, 200g of nuruk, and 2kg of gooey. You're welcome.

[@JohnnyKyunghwo]

funnily enough, Gooey is exactly 2kg at the time of filming 😂

[@evelynemartin989]

I made it in Korea and wanted to take it back with me to Europe. And it leaked all in my suitcase. I put in a bag and closed the lid but apparently I didn’t do it right 😅 but I have enough nuruk to make it again.

[@alvint78]

What's the ideal temperature for fermenting?

[@Dctctx]

@@alvint7865-72 F/ 18-22 C

[@DJDarkDarsi]

Two hours ago, I had never heard of this specific booze. Now I know how to make it, and know it's not too far out of my skill range to do so. Cheers!

[@RevShifty]

I make it every winter and have some so for years. I'm a big fan. I personally enjoy it's flavor more in a winter brew, because less of the potential sour flavor usually comes through. It's just very sweet and rich tasting. It does take a little longer in cold weather, though. Warm weather and even summer brews can still be delicious, it's just that occasionally you can get a slight sour apple flavor that comes through. It's not bad tasting on its own or anything, and it's certainly not a sign of anything unhealthy or the like. It's just not a taste profile I appreciate as much as those cleaner cold weather brews. Also, you can speed up the conversion of sugars into alcohol by adding the tiniest bit of supplemental yeast when you add the nuruk. It could be bread yeast if you have it on hand (Maangchi swears by bread yeast), to any beer or cider specific yeast you might have on hand. It doesn't really need it, but it does guarantee a less sweet and more alcoholic final product than what he ended up with here. It certainly doesn't need to be that way, however, as plenty of people obviously enjoy that residual sweetness that adds its own complexity to the flavor.

[@tessiepinkman]

Appreciate this video enormously, even though I am clean and sober since 3 years back I still enjoy making alcoholic drinks for others and, of course, cooking. I will try to make some of this and give it to my parents and friends as a gift. They usually appreciate my kitchen escapades, and when I made my own beer and mead a while back they all loved it. So thank you for giving me something else to try!

[@rileystu8801]

Been making makgeolli for two years now, agreed on the lack of straightforward video tutorials. Thanks for this one!

[@Randa-yr3sv]

If anyone is more of written instructions type of person, there’s a document online called “A Primer on Brewing Makgeolli” that would be helpful to a novice brewer.

[@frankweber7356]

Thank you this resource along with the video is fantastic

[@sempiro3133]

Thank you for this document: takjoo.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/a-primer-on-brewing-makgeolli.pdf

[@ryanturcotte9819]

Thank you for the helpful guide! It’s a nice pace that’ll allow me to follow along step by step later on.

[@basknation]

Fascinating, thanks for the vid. Must try..

[@XinYu-Xi]

Good, simple instruction. I want to taste it now.

[@foolscrowstudio]

Great vid, I feel like makgeolli is rice beer more than wine, it uses wheat/grain to ferment so it’s closer to beer than a sake which is more a wine. I call it Korean beer when I explain it to my friends.

[@laelenaurora]

Loved this video :) very informative without being overly complex, thank you

[@8leggedsquirrel521]

The how to videos are my favorite

[@fundaez1250]

Thank you!! This is such a great video, gooey.

[@fundaez1250]

These how to vids are great and I’d love more. Culinary school in the U.S doesn’t always teach me the things I’d like to know for making things for myself !

[@EnDabuwya]

This is fantastic. I've been brewing for about 10 years now and I've been wanting to make makgeolli since I visited South Korea last year and feel in love with the drink

[@luyudo]

Very good explanation of the step by step, I have homemade nuruk to be able to make makgeolli. This video gave me the answers I needed. thank you so much🥰

[@jpark329]

I’ve recently got into a world of fermentation and been watching so many youtube videos on traditional nuruk making and its history of it(in Korean). I know all of details matter in the making and impressed how you didn’t miss a thing of explaining to the audience. 👏🏻

[@easyrespect4622]

Fantastic video. Love your content dude 😎

[@susankim3824]

Thanks for the in-depth step by step video. I want to start making makgeolli this year. Wondering if you’ve experimented with flavouring the makgeolli? If so could you share a video on how to do that. Thanks again for another great tutorial 👍

[@Mdog79]

Love those types of videos.

[@josephcook2314]

Great info and cool cat! Reminds me of my kitty always watching.

[@javiernaranjo8087]

Had this for the first time this past January. Not common at all here in the US. I make beer for a living and I was amazed by this beverage. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. We probably couldn't make it at work without special equipment but I'll definitely try this at home. Makku was the brand I had, if anyone is curious here in the States

[@underscore_exclamationmark2180]

Needed this video!

[@1Hawkears1]

Ive wanted to make this for years and im gonna do it!!! Now to buy some jars :)

[@stanleygrover1685]

Great development with time and practice! Like my mead making! keep making videos!🤠🤠🤓

[@agc5008]

Came for Gooey and stayed for the wine, great recipe😊

[@Yojimbro71]

Fascinating!🤙🏿

[@ethanfaris]

Love this video I always struggle with getting my makkeoili to taste sweet and creamy. I also forget to burp it to. Hopefully I can finally get it here.

[@slowbro1337]

The creaminess reminds me of the Chateau Romani out of The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask Milk Bar

[@baumi8125]

For anyone curious and unable to get ahold of nuruk, Chinese rice yeast balls make a good substitute though ofc the end product will be different I'd assume. They are traditionally used in rice wine making and easy enough to get ahold of in a Chinese supermarket.

[@quirkyviper]

I'd love to see more "how to do things" style videos. I can't handle gluten, so I'm not sure if I can make this, but I'm excited to try other, similar things!

[@RevShifty]

Nuruk and koji both contain the exact same kind of amalayse enzymes (what converts starches to sugar), so you could always use koji instead. It would just be a two step fermentation process (converting the starches to sugars, then the sugars to alcohol with yeast) instead of the parallel fermentation (both steps happening at the same time) that nuruk allows for. It would just be a more traditional sake at that point, rather than the rustic farmer's wine that makgeolli traditionally is. But at it's core, they're basically the same thing.

[@RevShifty]

Also, you might want to look at Chinese style rice wine yeast balls. It works exactly the same as nuruk (parallel fermentation, single vessel, etc), only they use dried, powdered rice balls to store all the goodies in instead of wheat like nuruk proper. They're also common in Tibet, Laos, Cambodia, and anywhere else rice is a primary crop, so they shouldn't be too hard to find. They're just shaped like dried rice balls, and you usually use one ball per 500g of rice. Can you tell I have a bit of experience making rice wines? I didn't realize just how much until I started writing this all out.

[@williamaitken7533]

I made this recently using the Maangchi recipe! I really like the flavor of it. Mine ended up quite tart and funky which I enjoy. Kind of a mix between rice wine and kombucha. One thing I noticed was that after drinking it, I would have a pasty sensation in my mouth. I assume that's because of the starch from the rice sediment. I was curious if that was normal and to be expected?

[@Rubberduck-tx2bh]

Great vid! Thank you for easy to follow instructions. Your cat is awesome, by the way. So a couple questions, if you could indulge my ignorance: the nuruk has both enzymes & yeast for a parallel fermentation. Can you save a portion of what I would call the lees (I'm a homebrewer; beer, hard cider, hard seltzer) to start your next batch? Or are the enzymes no longer viable? And if you happened to distill MAKGEOLLI, would that be Soju? And finally, are there any probiotic benefits to MAKGEOLLI? Thanks!

[@donjr75]

I just bottled the makgeolli recipe that you did it came out great used half recipe got 2.16 ltrs mine is kind of sour on the pallet did I do something wrong would love to know get some advice I was thinking about making sumarian beer next have you ever made more exotic or ancient wines or brews like ancient Asian meads

[@kelseyc6239]

Hihi! This is a great video! Would you ever consider making a video with the rice based nuruk to make the ending result gluten free? Not sure if it's possible, just did a quick Google search since I was hoping there'd be an option for gluten sensitive friends. Thank you regardless!

[@ashfordj81]

Thank you for the video. I've seen them drink this on the KE channel and it's not something you can just run to the store to buy in the US, so off to buy some nuruk and a fermenting bottle online...

[@ShippudenStyle]

Thank you for the comprehensive guide! I will have to revisit this when I give it a shot. Two questions. 1) Do you have any recommendations for food pairings with makgeolli? My family tends to drink it as a dessert drink after eating a 고기 heavy meal :). 2) What are your thoughts on flavored, canned makgeolli like SOOL's Màkku? I find that my friends with no exposure to what makgeolli is are more willing to try it, and even I like some of the flavors.

[@JohnnyKyunghwo]

to answer your questions: 1. most commonly, makgeolli is eaten on rainy days in korea with jeon, or korean pancakes. But to be honest, you can have makgeolli with anything, there are no strict rules on it :D 2. I've tried makku, and was not a fan of it at all, in fact I'm not a fan of any flavoured mass produced makgeolli ever since I discovered the world of craft and traditional makgeolli. It really is something else If you're in korea or are visiting, I highly recommend checking out some restaurants that serve specialty makgeolli and other traditional alcohols. (and they usually have amazing food to go with it as well!)

[@sempiro3133]

@@JohnnyKyunghwoThanks a lot for the recipe! ❤🍻 I'm making my very first batch, and it is into day 3 now, separation happened, overall it looks normal, but there are 2 things that bother me: 1. Aroma wise it has nuruk (kinda moldy?) flavor, rather than rice flavor, is that normal? 2. Color wise it is way too dark, I wonder if it is because I ground nuruk to almost powder like consistency, while I see in videos it is crumbles-like consistency, could that be a problem? Thank you

[@peacemaster8117]

I love how the cat is constantly watching him like "uh-huh... yeah, makgeolli... right, sure..."

[@fundaez1250]

Do different kinds of rice impact flavor?

[@efrenchen293]

It's disappointing how little information about these beverages there is online (at least in English). Thanks for sharing your recipe! Chinese rice wine is made much the same way, except we don't initially add water to the steamed rice, our starter culture is made with rice instead of wheat (different microbes too), and we add rice and water to the mash to increase volume.

[@haleyv5961]

Can you comment on how long it stays good? Also, does fermentation end when the microbes run out of solids to eat? Do they just stay alive the whole time? Are there any occasions where you would boil or stop fermentation by pouring in a product?

[@elumbra]

I wonder if a juicer would work for the filtering step?

[@pizzicat0]

for mixing, could you just shake it then clean the sides?

[@flatrockfarmer1768]

I've never heard of this and it sounds intriguing! How long will it store in the refrigerator? Also, can the recipe be reduced to say, half the amount?

[@meforever1997]

I think it can be reduced or increased as you want. He follows a ratio of 1 rice to 1 water to 0.1 nuruk and that’s what he’s recommending here

[@meforever1997]

Not likely to be making this anytime soon but I’m wondering how much it yields - does the process add more or reduce the liquid than the original (2kg) water

[@Random84530]

I wonder if you could use the filtered rice as the "nuruk" for the next fermentation. Sort of like how you use yogurt from this batch to ferment the next.

[@MissVungtaunguyen]

No you can't because nuruk contain two things, brewer's yeast and enzyme called amylase. amylase break down starch into glucose, that all amylase is going to do. then next come the work of the yeast, they break down starch themselves, and then they eat glucose (utilise) to obtain energy, alcohol is by product. so you see that no yeast no alcohol. so why the amylase is so important? speed up the process? ( breaking down starch) but yeast can do that without amylase. how a bout the taste of wheat? so back to your question. once the enzyme been used, it is gone, the yeast however can stay in the filtered out discard. so try the discard to see how it turns out.

[@donjr75]

How many ml yield from the recipe would love to known.

[@ZooHair]

Could you show us how to make nuruk?

[@stanleygrover1685]

Nice cat . Look like my best mouse hunter from 25 years ago!

[@jojin9226]

How much water did you add to your nuruk? Does it matter?

[@am-tw4nu]

making my first brew as we speak and have reached the point where you leave the makgeolli alone after a few days of mixing-when you stopped mixing did you leave your makgeolli in the kitchen for the rest of the seven days? - sincerely ur brewing apprentice

[@baekusaeng]

The steps of Making Makgeolli might be simple, but we are working with Nuruk, perhaps one of the hardest fermentation starters in the planet. Also quick tip, if you gonna cool your rice, use some sort of elevation to even out the drying of the Godubap

[@Snaffalot]

I’ve been making makgeolli this way but it comes out quite sour/tart is there anything I can do to change this?

[@thaagirrasaurusjr5443]

I've read a few studies about the microflora in nuruk, and while its fascinating, I'm not sure how safe it is.. I've bought some different koji strains and will be experimenting with them soon (making 막걸리) along with different yeasts. Very excited to start brewing some Makgeolli!

[@thedisneyfan0918]

well then it's not makgeolli is it... nuruk's been used for thousands of years

[@thaagirrasaurusjr5443]

@@thedisneyfan0918 not yet it isn't, but I did manage to make unfiltered sake. For the next test batch I'm using a yeast that produces lactic acid.

[@thaagirrasaurusjr5443]

@@thedisneyfan0918 nuruk had been used for 1000s of year, you're very correct! It's really interesting and I plan to buy some proper nuruk soon, when I go to korea. But that won't stop me from attempting to make my own with specific strains of yeast/fungi, it's fun and I enjoy the process of learning.

[@mimsredjelly]

Makgooey

[@NINJASxSILENCE]

Came for the video, stay'd for the cats

[@mahokurisutian]

Is the result acidic? Mine is getting a little bit acidic

[@person35790]

If you’re at a Korean market, the English is often ‘enzyme powder’ or ‘enzyme amylase’

[@user-us1gy2yu6o]

For some reason my makgeolli became carbonated. Or is it normal?

[@anigmag259]

How much alcohol is in the drink?

[@eborge9711]

Is a cat assistant required for this recipe?

[@tobeyandtally]

I’ve only heard Makgeolli in amongst Korean speaking and subtitles, I was definitely NOT pronouncing it right in my head 😂

[@nifflan]

The vessel you are using makes it look painful to mix. Any suggestions for a better fermentation vessel that is easier to work with?

[@Rubberduck-tx2bh]

Homebrewer here: that looks like a wide-mouth glass cannister, so the portability is part of its benefits for "small" batch ferments like this. You could likely use a 5/6 gal 19/23 L bucket fermenter, but you'd definitely want an airlock mechanism. Hope that helped!

[@user-us1gy2yu6o]

If i'm taking half of each ingredient should I shorten fermenting time?

[@Rubberduck-tx2bh]

Unlikely. Homebrewer here: fermentation is typically 7-10 days, regardless of container size.

[@Siddartbenagi0]

Is that legal to sell online ?

[@hydrangeyes2170]

You would most likely have to look up you're state cottage food/beverage laws (local or just overall the state you live in). Typically it's not encouraged without a certified liscense with submission of the recipe and process you're doing. But- it is possible as long as you font exceed the limits given as per cottage food law.

[@RJisABLE]

Is it possible for rice steaming to be done with a rice cooker 😊

[@etypiccolo]

Tik tok on auto-play sounds like brain damage

[@tp6612]

:3

[@jiyakhan6679]

What is nuruk

[@Dctctx]

Fermentation starter

[@LBlendYT]

I live in a country where Nuruk is basically unavailable. Importing it costs 4 times the price of the nuruk itself 😭

[@Justin-ew1kc]

first

[@shi6676]

Oh god you look so fuckin cute.

[@qubadmalik1]

Never trust a man who loves cats.😅😅😅

[@hedykarim3614]

The cat is cute but not on your counters where you cook

[@vengefulfox5986]

Really interesting thank you