Sato, traditional Thai rice wine, is made for centuries by the local farmers of the Isaan.
Sato (Thai rice wine) ingredients
The ingredients for Sato (Thai rice wine) are simple: 1) sticky rice; 2) a starter culture, a mixture including sugar and some nutrients (substances needed to help living things to grow); 3) yeast (a substance that causes other ingredients to grow); and 4) water.
Traditionally, a starter culture known as look pan, a small ball of starch rich in various microbes, is used to assist in fermentation.
Sato (Thai rice wine) manufacturing process
The actual manufacturing process is not difficult. Steamed rice is mixed with look pang rich in mould and yeast and kept in a fermentation tank for three days as starch in the rice changes to sugar.
Clean water is added to the tank and second fermentation takes about another week before fresh rice wine is squeezed from the material. It is then filtered.
This process can be unstable and unpredictable, resulting in liquor of differing quality and, often, a short shelf life, therefore Sato sold commercially needs adiitives and is (my private opinion) often of quite inferior taste to locally produced, fresh Sato.
Sato (Thai rice wine) brands sold in Thailand commercially
Siam Sato: 8% alcohol, sweet, strong smelling and with a strong aftertaste. A little sharp, and could be described as sticky; it is probably best drunk with a mixer (soda?) or at least with ice.
Ruan Rak (Sweet Home): 7% alcohol, a drier sato with a slightly sweet aftertaste. A more subtle Sato, but famous for headaches and hangover the next day.
Gru Pli (Long-Horned Bull): 4% alcohol, a pungent nose, reminiscent of overripe fruit. Made from black sticky rice. Nice flavor, becoming more mellow with each sip. The most expensive of the three and my favorite commercial Sato.
All commercial Sato wines are much better in taste if mixed with fruit juices.
Making Sato yourself at home
Important, if you are located here in Thailand:
Recently, the government changed a 1950 law that had made it illegal to make rice wine privately. It is now legal and that has led to more production; however, you will need a license to do so; my understanding is that this license is quite easy to get for Thai nationals and at a comparatively low cost if produce is to be sold only locally.
You will need some large glass bottles (25-30 liters) or other chemically inert containers that you can put a stopper in on top, primary fermenters (basically a large garbage can with a snap on lid made from food grade plastic) and of course the ingredients.
As carboys, instead of large glass bottles, you might use for example the large plastic water containers used for the drinks dispensers at most offices and shops. Your fermentation barrel is easily obtained from the local market.
A Sato recipe:
- wash sticky (glutineous) rice until water runs nearly clear (2-3 times)
- soak rice for 2-3 hours
- steam rice for 1.5hrs (above the water, not in the water); you can use a rice cooker for that
- spread rice on a tray and let it cool (after you steam rice, if the steamed rice smells sour, you should wash it one more time before mixing it with yeast)
- mix rice with yeast, put a little water to make rice and yeast mix better
- put mixed rice in a jar
- cover it tight and leave it like that for 4 nights in a warm place then add water (1 kg of rice : 1.5 liter of water : 1 lump of yeast)
- put in fermenter and leave for at least 7 days: after 7 days, you can open and taste, but the spoon or glass or cup must be clean, and be careful to not let your hand touch the wine in the jar or it will spoil; if you open the fermenter to check, gas should escape as a sign that the yeast is working
- strain out rice, filter the liquid and bottle the finished Sato
Note: As I noticed quite some interest in this page in particular and on the process of making Sato at home, I have not tried it myself (the aboce recipe comes from arachnyd.com). On my next trip to Khorat, I will try to make some Sato myself, out of curiosity; I will then document this process fotografically and tell you more on how to make Sato yourself at home (expect results around Christmas 2005 or Songkran 2006).
.gif)
Click here to leave your comments
"Use the menu below for more travel articles on Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat) nightlife"
