Awamori (泡盛) is a traditional alcoholic beverage from Okinawa Prefecture (Kyushu Region).
It has been consume in Okinawa since ancient times. In fact, its history dates all the way back to the 15th century!
Compared to typical Japanese sake, awamori is distilled (not brewed), and uses long grain rice (instead of short grain rice). It also uses black koji (see more in ingredients section below)
The name “awamori” comes from Okinawan dialect. It means something like “distilled liquor with foam” or “distilled liquor with bubbles,” which describes the production process and unique characteristics of this Okinawan spirit.
Read on for more interesting info about awamori:
Ingredients
The main ingredients of Awamori are:
- Rice
- Koji
- Water
The main ingredients used to make awamori are long grain rice, black koji mold, and water.
Koji mold is a sort of fungus that is used to ferment the rice. It used in many other Japanese foods/drinks such as soy sauce (shoyu), miso, and sake. Black koji is said to be more suitable to use in Okinawa’s warm and humid climate (compared to white or yellow koji).
To be officially considered as Okiwanan Awamori by the Okinawa Distilling Association, only water from Okinawa Prefecture can be used. The fermentation, distillation, etc., proccesses must all be performed within Okinawa.
The main difference between awamori and traditional Japanese sake or shochu is that sake uses Japanese short grain rice, and either white, yellow, or black koji.
Location / Where to Drink
Awamori can be purchased at shops or supermarkets all over Okinawa.
There are also dozens of distilleries scattered throughout the prefecture. Each distillery has their own unique taste, so make sure to try as many as you can. 😉
Currently, there are 47 official distilleries that are part of the Okinawa Distilling Association (沖縄県酒造組合).
Most restaurants/izakayas will also have awamori on the menu, so you can try some with your meal. It is also used as a cooking ingredient for various Okinawan dishes like rafute.
Read more about awamori’s interesting history below:
History / Origin of Awamori
Awamori is said to have been introduced to Okinawa around the 14th century, when the island was still known as the Ryukyu Kingdom.
The exact details are unknown, though its origin is said to be from Siam (i.e. the former name of present day Thailand).
The Ryukyu Kingdom first obtained Siamese spirits through trade its trade with China and other nations in Southeast Asia. They also learned about Siam distillation technology, and used it to produce the very first awamori.
Learning to make awamori from Thailand is also the reason long-grained rice is used (as opposed to typical Japanese short-grained rice), as that is the more common rice used over there.
How Awamori is Made
Here is a basic process of how awamori is made:
- Wash the rice
- Soak the rice in water
- Steam the rice until fully cooked
- Make rice koji (i.e. mix the rice with black koji mold)
- Fermentation — Mix rice koji with more steamed rice, water, and yeast for fermentation. The resulting mash is known as Moromi (もろみ)
- Distillation — i.e. heat the moromi, and collect the alcohol vapors (i.e. raw awamori)
- Aging (mix with water to adjust the alcohol content)
- Packaging — awamori is filtered and diluted with water to reach desired alcoholic strength (depending on the brand), then packaged for sale.
There are many more details that go into making awamori.
For example, making the rice koji (step 4) takes 2 days or more (depending on distillery); the fermentation step takes around 2 weeks; and aging can be anywhere from 6 months to many years!
Finished awamori typically has alcohol content of around 25%, though you can also find much stronger varieties.
Summary
Have you ever tried awamori before? What did you think of it?
Leave your thoughts and comments below!
