An introduction to Chinese wines and liquors, as well as handy tips on pairing food with Chinese alcohol
"The heart is melancholic, the sorrow cannot be forgotten. Wherein lies relief? Only in du kang." So reads a poignant line from Duan Ge Xing authored by Cao Cao, a brilliant ruler, military leader, poet and martial artist who lived from 155 to 220 AD. According to legend, Du Kang was the inventor of Chinese liquor who lived about 4,000 years ago, but by Cao Cao's time, the name had evolved to become a metonymy for good quality Chinese liquor.
Through millennia, Chinese spirits and liquor has had a special place in many of China's greatest figures, inspiring lofty praise from scholars and comforting the lonely and the sorrowful. Classical Chinese poets were so enraptured by it that they wrote countless poems to the beauty of wine. The most celebrated among them was Li Bai, who was even alluded to as one of the Eight Wine-Drinking Immortals by his contemporary Du Fu, himself a famed poet of the Tang dynasty.
"Liquor in China has a long history, dating back to times when it was used as offerings to the gods; from its beginning, it was considered to be a divine and luxurious item," elaborates Li Gongba, Chinese liquor connoisseur and executive sous chef of Putien restaurant in Singapore. "In those days, there were hardly enough rice and wheat to eat, much less to make liquor with, so poets treated it like Lamborghini or Porsche!"
Chinese liquor has since come a long way since the time of Li Bai. Today, there are countless producers and distilleries spread over China, making different types of liquor depending on what's available.
Although in common speech Chinese liquor (or spirits) and Chinese wine are interchangeable terms, the word 'wine' does not accurately reflect the nature of the beverage. Chinese liquor is made from a variety of grain, most commonly rice, wheat, glutinous rice, or sorghum. Under increasing influence from the West, more people have switched to drinking grape wine, so the word 'Chinese wine' has taken on a slightly different meaning. For brevity's sake, Chinese wine is still a commonly accepted term, although it seems best to retain the name the beverage has enjoyed for thousands of years — jiu.
Different Types of Chinese Wines
Chinese jiu is generally separated into two types: bai jiu (white wine) and huang jiu (yellow wine). Grains used in the brewing of jiu are first degermed and polished, then soaked and acidified. Acidification discourages the growth of certain bacteria that might produce undesirable flavours, but it also results in a peculiar but appealing texture and taste unique to Chinese liquor.
Bai jiu can be further categorised into four types: nong xiang, jiang xiang, qing xiang and feng xiang. The differences between each type lie mainly in varying degrees of the intensity of its fragrance, or xiang. Nong xiang wine is best represented by Luzhou lao jiu and du kang. Nong connotes concentration, which refers to the strong fragrance of the particular wine type. Jiang xiang wine is represented by mao tai, which has a distinctive fragrance that resembles soy sauce. Qing xiang means 'light' or 'delicate' fragrance, best represented by fen jiu, while feng xiang wine is somewhat a mix of nong xiang and qing xiang, represented by Xifeng jiu.
Pairing Food with Chinese Wines
Like the grape wines of the West, Chinese liquor is, in a limited sense, terroir-specific — after all, the liquor is a product made from natural ingredients such as crop and water. Over the years, experience has taught people to perfect their recipes based on what they have. Consequently, certain regions are reputed for producing certain types of jiu of exceptional quality.
Guizhou is known for producing high quality mao tai, a bai jiu distilled from fermented sorghum, prized for its superb fragrance. After extensive maturation in caves, the jiu offers an exceptionally pure and fragrant soy-like aroma that pervades the entire room. Guizhou mao tai enjoys a strong sense of identity as it's the official Chinese wine served at state occasions and presented as gifts for VIPs and visiting political figures. As a wine, it pairs remarkably well with various meats and heavier, fuller dishes.
Probably not as famous as mao tai but equally tasty is wu liang ye ('five grain liquid'), a Chinese wine whose name is derived from the five ingredients used to make it: gaoliang, rice, glutinous rice, wheat and corn. While its aroma is not as strong as mao tai, its delicate, floral nose and rich flavours make it a perfect accompaniment to a wide array of dishes, ranging from deep-fried pork ribs to braised meats.
Shui Jing Fang, a highly popular and super premium bai jiu which hails from Sichuan, can trace its origin back to the Yuan dynasty. Its name gives a clue to its success — the pristine quality of the water from the distillery's well (shui jing means well in Chinese) enables the producer to create this bai jiu of the highest quality. Like other bai jiu, Shui Jing Fang is a wonderful beverage to go with heavier meat dishes.
Other types of jiu owe their names to other factors, such as production methods or the vessels in which they are contained. Er guo tou ('head of the second pot'), as its name indicates, is a twice-distilled bai jiu with a high degree of purity and taste. But at about 56 per cent alcohol by volume, it isn't a liquor that goes down too easily. Er guo tou is usually matched with winter dishes and heavier meats such as lamb.
Hua diao, which literally translates into 'flower carving', is a type of huang jiu made from glutinous rice and wheat. It's named after the intricate carvings of ornamental flowers on the traditional vessels in which it's kept. Fine hua diao jiu like Gu Yue Long Shan should be served slightly warmer than room temperature, so that the aromas become more pronounced. Hua diao typically matches better with seafood like crab and shellfish, which offer mild, pleasant flavours. In Cantonese cuisine, it is most commonly used to steam red crabs with.
Nu er hong ('daughter red') and zhuang yuan hong ('scholar red') are famous types of huang jiu whose names are derived from traditional cultural household rituals. Should the parents bear a daughter, the wine would be served at her wedding. If the family has a son, the wine would then be drunk just as he is ready to take the imperial examinations.
We have but only uncovered what is the tip of the iceberg. Many types of jiu are produced all over China, each different in style, age and production process, and each offering a glimpse into the vast history of Chinese culture and philosophy.
How to Taste Chinese Wine
Pour a small quantity of the wine into a wine cup and study it for any impurity or cloudiness. Raise the cup to your nose to take in the fragrance of the wine briefly. There is no need to swirl the wine, as Chinese wine naturally possesses a very aromatic nose. The mere lifting of the cup will release notes of its sweet fragrance. Take a small sip and roll the wine all over the mouth. There should be varying tastes on different parts of the tongue. Good wines are generally sweet on the tip of the tongue, while the inferior ones tend to be bitter. Swallow the wine and breathe in the fragrance through your mouth.After a short while, the fragrance of the wine returns and will last for a few moments on the palate. The wine is said to "enter like a pulse, and return like a thread."
Photography by Lionel Lai.
