Making Red Yeast Starter Mother
A method for making red yeast starter (hong qu mu) by combining glutinous rice with red yeast and fermenting the mixture into a paste.
Ingredients
White glutinous rice
1 dou
Premium red yeast (hong qu)
2 jin 500 g
Instructions
1
Steaming the Rice
First, wash the glutinous rice clean, steam until fully cooked, and prepare as steamed rice.
2
Fermentation
Mix with water in the proper proportion, following the method used for making wine. Stir thoroughly until evenly combined, then transfer into a jar. Ferment for seven days in winter, three days in summer, and five days in spring or autumn — until the wine is fully ripe.
3
Forming the Paste
Transfer into a basin and pound into a thick paste-like consistency. For every dou of glutinous rice, use only 2 sheng of this mother culture. From this single batch of starter, one can produce 1 shi 5 dou of premium red yeast (hong qu).
