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Chinese · VI The Beverage Tradition

Baijiu and the Pairing of Spirit with Food

‹ The Beverage Tradition

I

Origin

Baijiu is the distilled grain spirit of China, made across the country and drunk at the banquet table rather than apart from it. It is fermented and distilled from sorghum, rice, wheat, maize or glutinous rice, using a saccharifying starter called qu, and its styles are grouped by aroma type: sauce, strong, light and rice. Its place is the toast: in Chinese dining the spirit is poured for the company, drunk in small cups and offered between dishes, so that it belongs to the structure of the meal and to the courtesies of hosting.

II

Description

Baijiu (白酒) is the clear distilled grain spirit of China, made from sorghum, rice, wheat, maize or glutinous rice, fermented with a saccharifying starter called qu and distilled, and bottled at roughly 40 to 68 per cent alcohol by volume. Its styles are grouped by aroma type: sauce aroma (jiang xiang), strong aroma (nong xiang), light aroma (qing xiang) and rice aroma (mi xiang). Each type pairs differently with food, sauce aroma with aged and deeply savoury dishes, strong aroma with spicy and oily food, and light aroma with the more delicate dishes of the North.

III

The Thread

—Both are regional spirits that belong to the table of the place that makes them, drunk alongside the cooking and not kept for afterwards. Calvados is distilled from apples and cider and is often taken between courses in the trou normand, whereas baijiu is distilled from grain and poured throughout a banquet with toasts. French
—Both are high-proof spirits whose clean heat cuts through fat and salt, and both are made from the by-products or staples of local agriculture. Grappa is distilled from grape pomace and is most often taken as a digestif, while baijiu is distilled from fermented grain and is drunk with the dishes themselves. Italian
—Both belong to a culture of shared small cups, in which pouring for others is a point of courtesy and the spirit accompanies grilled, spiced and fried dishes. Soju is lighter, usually between 16 and 25 per cent alcohol, and is commonly made from rice or other starches, while baijiu is far stronger and its aroma types are far more varied. Korean
IV

Flavour Context

Baijiu is drunk with banquet food, and the pairing is made by intensity: the spirit must meet the dish, not be buried by it. Strong aroma baijiu, with its fruity, ester-rich character, is set against chilli-hot and oily dishes, where its fire and fragrance hold their own. Sauce aroma baijiu, whose savoury, soy-like complexity comes from long fermentation and ageing, sits with deeply flavoured and aged dishes. Light aroma baijiu, clean and grainy, accompanies the more delicate dishes of the North. A fragrant spirit poured beside a faint dish overwhelms it, and a delicate spirit beside a fiery one disappears.

Pillars V — VII
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