Homemade Rice Wine Is Easier To Make Than You Thought

There are different types of drinks that go best with different types of foods. Beer goes with burgers. Wine goes with pasta. And sake goes with Japanese food. Also referred to as rice wine (though it's more akin to beer), sake is Japan's national beverage (via Healthline) and is famous for its high alcohol content and unique mild yet slightly sweet flavor. It's made from fermented rice and yeast and can be used for both drinking and cooking. And sake isn't the only type of rice wine, either — Lifehacker writes that dozens of varieties exist in Asian cuisine, including the popular Shaoxing wine.

While you can buy rice wine at the store, it's actually fairly simple to brew at home. All you need are a few ingredients and a big jar (and a little bit of patience) to have delicious homemade sake in just a few days. Here's what you need to know about making rice wine yourself.

Trying to brew your own sake might sound intimidating but it's a lot easier than most people realize. Not only can you make it using basic ingredients found at the local grocery store (like rice, raisins, sugar, and yeast), according to Food.com, but making homemade rice wine also requires very little effort on your part. Food.com explains that the process basically just involves mixing all of your ingredients together in a jar, covering it, and then letting it sit for almost three weeks. All you have to do while you wait for it to finish brewing is stir it twice a day. 

And some recipes are even less involved. Oola.com, for instance, says you only need to stir your rice wine once or twice a week while it ferments, while the blogger behind Wine On My Time advises not stirring it at all after mixing the ingredients. She just lets it sit covered in a dark place for 30 days. Easy peasy.