Sikhye, a traditional Korean sweet rice beverage

Ingredients

• Barley malt powder 500g
• Water 4l
• Cooked rice 4bowl
• Ginger 2piece
• Sugar 2cup
• Artificial sweetener 1pinch

Instructions

1. Place the Barley malt powder in a hemp (or cotton) bag and soak it in a bucket of water for 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes, add 2 liters of water and knead the bag gently to make malt water.
3. Pour the malt water into another container. Then, add another 2 liters of water to the bucket and knead again.
4. Combine all the malt water in one container and let it sit for 10 minutes to allow the sediment to settle.
5. Discard the sediment and pour only the clear malt water into a rice cooker along with the cooked rice.
6. Stir gently with a spatula to loosen the rice.
7. Keep the rice cooker on “Warm” mode for about 5 hours. (Adding sugar can shorten the fermentation time.)
8. When the rice grains float to the surface, the fermentation is complete.
9. Pour the fermented liquid into a pot.
10. Add a pinch of New Sugar, 2 cups of sugar, and (optional) 2 large slices of ginger into the pot and boil for 10 minutes.
11. Let it cool completely, then refrigerate. Serve chilled and enjoy your refreshing traditional Korean Sikhye!