What is koji made of

Qu is the backbone of wine. Many people prefer to use Qu to brew something, especially pickling corn kernels with Qu is a very delicious way to make it. However, most people do not know how to make Qu, because there are many key points in the production process of Qu. If it is not made well, the Qu produced will not only taste unauthentic, but also make people feel disgusted after eating it. So what is Qu made of?

The koji commonly used in brewing in my country can be roughly divided into the following categories, namely, big koji, small koji and bran koji.

1. Daqu: Daqu is made from wheat, barley, peas and other raw materials. The grains are crushed, mixed with water and pressed into brick-shaped blocks, and then cultivated under artificially dug temperature and humidity. Daqu contains a variety of microorganisms such as mold, yeast, and bacteria. It is a multi-bacteria mixed enzyme preparation. The types and quantities of microorganisms it contains are affected by factors such as the koji-making raw materials, koji-making temperature, and environment. Since Daqu contains a variety of microorganisms, a wide variety of metabolites are formed during the wine fermentation process, forming various flavor components.

2. Xiaoqu: Xiaoqu is made from rice flour or rice bran, adding a small amount of Chinese medicinal materials or Polygonum hydropiper, inoculating koji mother, and artificially controlling the culture temperature. Xiaoqu mainly contains microorganisms such as Rhizopus, Mucor, and yeast. Among them, Rhizopus has a strong saccharification ability and a certain alcoholase activity. It is often used as a saccharification and fermentation agent for Xiaoqu liquor and yellow wine. For example, Qionglai rice koji and Guangdong wine cake used in the production of Xiaoqu liquor are both excellent Xiaoqu varieties for yellow wine brewing.

3. Gluten koji: Gluten koji is made from bran as the main raw material and is inoculated with mold to expand the culture. It is mainly used in the production of gluten koji liquor as a saccharifying agent.