Soju (Distilled Liquor)

History

Soju (소주, 燒酒, literally "burned liquor") is a distilled grain spirit, and its arrival in Korea is among the better-documented transmissions in the region's food history. Distillation is thought to have reached the peninsula in the 13th–14th century through the Mongol (Yuan) empire, which had itself acquired the technique of distilling arak from Persian and Arab practice during its westward campaigns. The Korean name araki, still heard for the drink, descends from the Arabic araq ("liquor"). Mongol garrisons seeded the craft where they were stationed, and Kaesong (Gaegyeong), Andong, and Jeju Island remain the classic soju-producing regions today; near Kaesong the spirit is still called arak-ju. Andong soju in particular is traced to a Yuan supply base set up for the campaigns against Japan. Eumsik dimibang records this older craft: its large drinks section (roughly fifty wine and spirit recipes) includes pot-distilled (증류식) soju built from steamed rice, nuruk starter, and water, fermented and then distilled over carefully managed heat. This is traditional single-pot rice soju — a world apart from today's mass-market diluted soju, which is neutral column-distilled ethanol cut with water and sweeteners, a 20th-century industrial product. No single inventor should be claimed; the honest account is a technology carried east and naturalized into distinct regional Korean hands.

Ingredients

• mal rice
• mal boiled water
• doe nuruk

Instructions

1. Wash and steam 1 mal of rice very well; soak in 2 mal of boiled water.
2. When cold, mix in 5 doe of nuruk and set aside seven days.
3. Distill: boil 2 bowls of water first, pour 3 bowls of wine in, and stir evenly.
4. Manage the fire (moderate is best), change the cooling water on top often; yields about three bottles of strong liquor.