Passing on 'samhae yakju' court wine

Kwon Hee-ja, No. 8 master of “samhae” rice wine makes a batch of raw alcohol in this file photo. She will hold a demonstration of how to make the samhae yakju at the Seoul History Museum Saturday. / Courtesy of Kwon Hee-ja

Master Kwon Hee-ja of clear rice wine to demonstrate on Nov. 15

By Kim Ji-soo

The popularity of traditional Korean liquor such as “makgeolli” or soju has prompted interest in Korean traditional drinks. So much so, that Kwon Hee-ja now has more seekers — both Korean and foreign — coming to learn the secret of her family’s beverage, samhae yajku.

It’s a good thing because Kwon doesn’t mass produce the family’s 500-year-long secret to brewing the clear rice wine, although word of mouth about its elegant taste got around and the government followed on this ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She hasn’t branched out like artisans in other traditional drinks because it requires a permit and the personnel to do it on a large scale.

Since she was designated as a cultural asset for the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 1993, Kwon holds one national and one overseas demonstration and exhibition of how to make the refined clear rice wine a year, and that’s when the public gets to taste samhae yaku. For those in the country, Kwon will give a rare demonstration at the Seoul History Museum on Nov. 15 starting at 4 p.m.

An image of the finished product of “samhae yakju,” which has melon fragrance and a fine mix of the five tastes.

But the heightened interest in traditional Korean drinks means she has more visitors to the Donwha Moon Exhibition Hall for Seoul Living Treasures of Traditional Craft Arts to produce the wine passed on from the courts through her family, rather family-in-laws, whose ancestors go directly up to Princess Bokeon of King Sunjo of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The princess’s husband Kim Byeong-joo was Kwon’s father-in-law five generations ago. The marriage meant that the court’s cooks and brewers accompanied the princess on the family’s special occasions.

“This is an alcohol of the gentry, which has passed down through five generations in our family,” said Kwon, speaking in an interview with The Korea Times at the Don-wha Moon Exhibition Hall. “It’s made with devotion, over three months,” she said.

Unlike the more popular drinks of makgeolli or soju, samhae yakju is made and fermented over three times through a period of 100 days. Smelling of delicious melon and with its light beige hues, the liquor has an elegant taste that was enjoyed by societal leaders.

“The strength of samhae yakju is it features the mix of five tastes, and yet has high alcohol content,” Kwon said. The features are possible because the rice wine is fermented at a low temperature.

Kwon’s “nureuk,” which contains yeast to ferment the “samhae yakju” or clear rice wine that has been passed down in her family for several centuries.

The only recognized master artisan, Kwon is a pharmacist by training who stumbled upon rice-wine making through marriage.

“My mother-in-law, she was talented with her hands in cooking and in fermenting the rice wine,” Kwon said. She isn’t the eldest daughter-in-law, but all the daughters-in-law were trained in the family tradition and Kwon’s skills and pharmacist training came in handy.

As to how the family alcohol recipe became popularly known, Kwon said her father-in-law who was a professor at Korea University had acquaintances including well-known people like the poet Jo Ji-hun and the novelist Yu Jin-oh.

She makes the clear rice wine in three stages.

“The first raw base is made with the ground non-glutinous rice on the first pig day (of the first lunar month),” said Kwon. The “pig” day she refers to is the 12th day of the month, according to the 12 Earthly branches according to a Chinese system to reckon time.

“The pig day entails good luck, so our ancestors chose that day,” Kwon said.

As for the word “yakju,” it refers to the clear-type of traditional Korean wine which is fermented and produces an alcohol ranging in about 16 percent in content. The two other representative traditional Korean drinks are makgeolli that is about 6 percent in alcohol content and soju that is distilled. Soju formerly had about 20 percent in alcohol, although the most recent ones have lowered it to around 16 percent.

The first raw base is fermented for 20 days in a cool temperature ranging around 5 degrees Celsius, then she makes a second batch in the same way.

“The third batch is ‘ddeotsul’ which is made after steaming (not fermented) the nonglutinous rice,” Kwon said. Then she mixes all the three batches, together, so that the enzymes and the yeast yield the alcohol and determine the taste.

In producing the refined rice wine, the yeast is the most important. She takes out a certain amount of time during summer to make her round or rectangularly-shaped yeast, known as “nureuk.” Her family’s nureuk is made with white flour, grounded with care.

“I make the nureuk during the height of summer,” said Kwon, expanding that she adds dried mugwort or chrysanthemum to take advantage of the fungus there during the fermenting.

“The fall season is the best time to make the samhae yakju, so I should be working harder now,” she said.

Even as she shares the know-how with the public, Kwon’s two sons and two daughters-in-law are training to succeed her. Cultural assets in the nation are obliged to teach and train successors. Because samhae yakju is not a main source of income for Kwon, she has had the leisure to keep to the tradition maintained for five centuries. But she and her children are thinking of producing on a business scale, which means they would have to register with National Tax Service.

In the meanwhile, she invites those interested to the Donwha Moon Exhibition Hall for the Seoul Living Treasures of Traditional Craft Arts to learn the recipe. Kwon said that people should reserve for demonstrations ahead and sign up for the ingredients costing around 10,000 won. The exhibition hall can be reached at (02) 741-1303 or (02) 766-3303 or by email at seoulmaster11@gmail.com.