China

204 ferments from China, with how each is made.

204 entries listed here, page 1 of 2.

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Ferment	Kind	Main step	Temperature	Salt	pH
'Bitter wine' (苦酒) vinegars: bean, wheat, water, quick, honey and 'foreign' vinegars	Vinegar	14 days
Airag	Fermented milk	24 h – 2 days	20–30 °C		up to 4
Bai tang gao and fa gao (Chinese fermented steamed rice cakes)	Cereals and bread	8 h	32 °C
Baoning (Sichuan bran) vinegar	Vinegar	30 days	30–35 °C
Barley vinegar (大麥酢法)	Vinegar	3–4 days
Bashang suancai (Hebei plateau cabbage pickle)	Vegetables	4 days		4 %	3.2 → 3.21
Bean jiang (作醬法), the Northern Wei soybean paste	Soy and legumes	20 days – 3.3 months
Birch sap wine	Alcoholic drinks	24 h – 3 days
Black and oolong tea "fermentation" (enzymatic oxidation)	Tea leaf	8–12 h
Bread leaven from sour liquid (《食經》作餅酵法)	Cereals and bread
Century egg (boundary: alkaline, chemical)	Eggs	at least 2 months			10
Changde fresh-wet fermented rice noodles (Hunan)	Cereals and bread	27 h – 3 days	35 °C		4
Chhaang (Tibetan and Himalayan barley beer)	Alcoholic drinks	2–3 days			4.1
Chi (豉), Northern Wei fermented black soybeans	Soy and legumes	10–15 days
Chí hǎi (ant-egg paste), historical	Insects	3.3 months
Chinese dark soy sauce (lǎochōu) and mushroom dark soy	Sauces and condiments	3 months		18 %	5.9 → 4.55
Chinese fermented chilli mash (la jiao jiang base; erjingtiao)	Sauces and condiments	15–45 days	32–40 °C	15–22 %
Chinese fermented rice noodles (Hunan and Guizhou)	Cereals and bread	27–36 h	35–37 °C		4
Chinese high-salt liquid-state (HLF) soy sauce	Sauces and condiments	3 months	15–37 °C	18 %
Chinese light soy sauce (shēngchōu), incl. tóuchōu first-draw and shuānghuáng double-fermented	Sauces and condiments	3–6 months	15 °C	18 %	4.7
Chinese low-salt solid-state fermented (LSF) soy sauce	Sauces and condiments	15–30 days	40–55 °C	11–15 %
Chou furu / qingfang (grey stinky fermented tofu; Wangzhihe, Beijing)	Soy and legumes	28–35 days	25–28 °C	20 %	6.3
Chouguiyu	Fish and seafood	7–12 days	8–16 °C	6 %	6.8 → 6.58
Choujiu (Xi'an milky rice wine)	Alcoholic drinks	7 days	22 °C
Chura kampo / chura loenpa	Cheese	1–4 h
Coarse-qu mulberry-fall wine (笨麴桑落酒)	Alcoholic drinks	7 days
Coarse-qu white mash, drink-and-refill (笨麴白醪酒)	Alcoholic drinks	7 days
Cold Food sour rice water (作寒食漿法)	Soft drinks	3–4 days
Dajiang (farmhouse soybean paste of Northeast China)	Soy and legumes	3–7 months	at least 20 °C	8–12 %
Divine vinegar from huangzheng and bran (神酢法) and flatbread-fed vinegar (燒餅作酢法)	Vinegar	30 days
Divine-qu glutinous-millet or proso wine (造酒法 under ch. 64)	Alcoholic drinks	6 days
Divine-qu non-glutinous rice mash (神麴粳米醪)	Alcoholic drinks
Divine-qu proso-millet wine made at mulberry-leaf fall (造神麴黍米酒方)	Alcoholic drinks
Douchi (fermented black soybeans)	Soy and legumes	12 days	28–32 °C	2 %
Douzhi (Beijing fermented mung-bean drink)	Soft drinks	24 h			7 → 3.37
Duo jiao (Hunan chopped salted chillies)	Sauces and condiments	2–3.9 months	20–30 °C	10 %	4.1–4.3
East Asian fruit wines (bayberry, mulberry, goji and plum)	Alcoholic drinks	6–15 days	17–20 °C		4.9 → 3.49
Fermented silkworm pupae seasoning (modern)	Insects	10 days	32 °C
Fish jiang (作魚醬法) and its variants	Fish and seafood	14 days
Foxtail-millet wine (粟米酒), the poor household's wine	Alcoholic drinks	28 days
Fu brick tea (Fuzhuan)	Tea leaf	21 days	at least 25 °C
Fu cai (Hakka bottled fermented mustard)	Vegetables	4–6 months		2.3–7.9 %	3.8–4.3
Glutinous-millet divine vinegar (秫米神酢法) and its two variants	Vinegar	30 days
Glutinous-millet vinegar on sour starch water (秫米酢法)	Vinegar	30 days
Gong cai (Teochew sweet dried mustard strips)	Vegetables	10–30 days
Great vinegar (作大酢法)	Vinegar	21 days
Guizhou red sour soup (hong suan tang)	Sauces and condiments	3.9 months		3 %	3.1–3.8
Guizhou white sour soup	Sauces and condiments	7–10 days	18–25 °C		3–3
Hakka niangjiu (Hakka huangjiu)	Alcoholic drinks	42 days	19–21 °C		4
Hard chhurpi	Cheese	30 days			5.7–6.3
Hedong divine qu (河東神麴方) and its millet wine	Starters and koji	28 days
Hedong summer white wine (河東頤白酒)	Alcoholic drinks	24 h
High-temperature daqu (gaowen daqu, for sauce-aroma baijiu)	Starters and koji	3–6 months
Hongqu (red yeast rice, red qu)	Starters and koji	7 days	30 °C
Hongqu jiu / Fujian laojiu (red-qu rice wine)	Alcoholic drinks	30 days
Hu-leaf-water divine qu (又作神麴方) and its wine (神麴酒方, 清麴法)	Starters and koji	21 days
Huangyi and huangzheng ("yellow coat" and "yellow steamed" mould starters)	Starters and koji	7 days
Huangzheng (黃蒸), yellow steamed-flour starter	Starters and koji	7 days
Ice wine (Eiswein, icewine)	Alcoholic drinks	at least 30 days	15–17 °C		4
Jar seasoning before fermentation (塗甕)	Other
Jiafan jiu (Huadiao; Nü'er hong)	Alcoholic drinks	at least 2.6 months	up to 20 °C
Jiangshui (Gansu and Shaanxi flour-water sour)	Vegetables	3–5 days		0.1–0.3 %	3.3–4
Jiangxiang (sauce-aroma) baijiu — Maotai process	Alcoholic drinks	at least 3 years
Jimo laojiu (Jimo huangjiu, millet huangjiu)	Alcoholic drinks	at least 30 days			3.5–4.5
Jinhua ham	Meat	at least 27 days	0–15 °C	10–12 %
Jiuniang / laozao (sweet fermented rice)	Alcoholic drinks	3–4 days	25–30 °C		3.8–4
Kargyong	Meat	10–15 days			5.3–5.9
Khoormog	Fermented milk	24 h – 2 days	20–25 °C		3.4–5
Khuruud (hurood)	Cheese	16 h – 2 days			5.6
Kodo ko jaanr (finger-millet jaanr; base of tongba)	Alcoholic drinks	3–7 days	25–30 °C		4.1
Koumiss / qymyz	Fermented milk	24 h – 3 days	20–30 °C		3.3–5
Lactic-fermented cassava leaves (experimental and feed)	Vegetables	21–28 days	27–37 °C		5.5
Lao (酪) after the Qimin Yaoshu (c. 530–550 CE)	Fermented milk				3.8
Lao (酪), Northern Wei soured milk	Fermented milk
Lao, su and tihu (酪, 酥, 醍醐), historical Chinese milk products	Fermented milk	10 days			6.6 → 3.8
Lap cheong (Cantonese sausage)	Meat	4–7 days	50 °C
Lees-and-bran percolation vinegar and other lees vinegars (糟糠酢, 酒糟酢, 糟酢)	Vinegar	7–14 days
Liang-millet wine (粱米酒)	Alcoholic drinks	10 days
Liu Bao tea (Liupao)	Tea leaf	10–12 h	22–26 °C
Liuyang douchi (Hunan) and Yangjiang douchi (Guangdong) — Aspergillus-type	Soy and legumes	12 days	28–32 °C	2–3 %
Longan wine	Alcoholic drinks	9 days	30 °C		6 → 3.85
Low-temperature daqu (diwen daqu, for light-aroma baijiu)	Starters and koji	3 months
Lychee wine (lizhi jiu)	Alcoholic drinks	5 months	8–10 °C
Maksym and bozo (Kyrgyz cereal drinks)	Soft drinks	up to 8 days	20–22 °C
Mantou with laomian (old-dough) starter	Cereals and bread	8 h	30 °C		4.5–6.2
Maodoufu (hairy tofu)	Soy and legumes	4 days	20 °C		up to 4
Meat jiang (肉醬法) and quick meat jiang	Meat	14 days
Medicine-steeping base wine (浸藥酒法)	Alcoholic drinks	24 h
Medium-temperature daqu (zhongwen daqu, for strong-aroma baijiu)	Starters and koji	30 days – 3 months
Meigan cai (mei cai)	Vegetables	12 h – 14 days	20–30 °C		5.5 → 4.6
Meitauza (mould-grown okara cake)	Soy and legumes	10–15 days	14–29 °C		7.5 → 7.35
Melon and ginger pickled in wine lees (瓜菹, 釀瓜菹酒, 蜜薑, 藏越瓜)	Vegetables	3 days
Method wines (法酒), the refilling wines of chapter 67	Alcoholic drinks	7 days
Miam / suan cha (Blang and De'ang pickled sour tea)	Tea leaf	30 days – 2 years			4.8–5.2
Mijiu (Chinese and Taiwanese rice wine)	Alcoholic drinks	12–14 days	25 °C
Millet-and-qu vinegar (粟米麴作酢法)	Vinegar	21 days
Mixiang (rice-aroma) baijiu	Alcoholic drinks	8–15 days	27–29 °C
Mungbean starch noodles (sour-liquid starch)	Roots and tubers	27 h – 2.7 days	-10 °C		4.5
Nine-addition spring wine of Cao Cao (魏武帝上九醞法)	Alcoholic drinks	3 days
Nongxiang (strong-aroma) baijiu — mud-pit process	Alcoholic drinks	2–2.3 months	20–34 °C
Northeast suan cai (Dongbei sauerkraut)	Vegetables	30 days	18–20 °C	0.5–3.5 %	3.2–3.3
Other chapter-66 wines (愈瘧酒, 酃酒, 㰂酒, 柯柂酒)	Alcoholic drinks	3 days
Other Chinese dark teas (heicha)	Tea leaf	2–25 years	5–32 °C
Panxian ham	Meat	12 months – 3 years	20–22 °C	8 %
Paojiao (Sichuan pickled chillies)	Sauces and condiments	30 days – 3 months	20–30 °C	9 %	3.3–3.4
Pear sour water (梨菹/漤) and stored bracken (藏蕨)	Fruit	at least 30 days
Pineapple wine (Maui Blanc and Asian pineapple wines)	Alcoholic drinks	6–8 days	22 °C		3.9 → 3.8
Pixian doubanjiang (fermented broad-bean chili paste)	Sauces and condiments	at least 6 months		12–14 %
Preserved crab in salt-smartweed brine (藏蟹法)	Fish and seafood	20 days
Qingxiang (light-aroma) baijiu — Fenjiu ground-jar process	Alcoholic drinks	28 days	17–30 °C		3.5–3.8
Qinzhou spring-wine coarse qu and spring wine (秦州春酒麴 / 作春酒法)	Alcoholic drinks	21–26 days
Quick white-mash and clear wines of chapter 66	Alcoholic drinks	4–5 days
Qula (Tibetan dried yak curd, China)	Cheese	2 days	20–25 °C
Raw pu-erh (sheng)	Tea leaf	12 months – 21 years	20–30 °C
Red fermented tofu (hong furu, nam yu)	Soy and legumes	at least 3 months		at least 11 %	5.5–6.8
Ripe pu-erh (shou)	Tea leaf	30 days	51.5–62.9 °C		6–7
Ripe pu-erh, industrial wet-pile (Xiaguan Tuocha protocol, 2020)	Tea leaf	7–10 days	51.5–62.9 °C		6–7
Ritual "divine" wheat qu (造神麴, three-wheat method with qu kings)	Starters and koji	28 days
Rushan (milk fan)	Cheese	14 days			at least 5
Salted zu pickles of turnip, cabbage, mallow and mustard (蕪菁、菘、葵、蜀芥鹹菹法)	Vegetables	3 days
Shanniang jiu (semi-sweet Shaoxing wine)	Alcoholic drinks	at least 30 days	up to 20 °C
Shanxi aged vinegar (Shanxi laochencu)	Vinegar	at least 12 months
Shaoxing huangjiu, Yuanhong (dry); base flow for Shaoxing wines	Alcoholic drinks	at least 2.6 months	up to 20 °C
Shaoxing jiuyao (white medicine, small qu)	Starters and koji	at least 3 days
Shaoxing wheat qu (traditional maiqu) and pure-culture wheat qu	Starters and koji	2–3 months
Shimiin arkhi (milk spirit)	Alcoholic drinks	2–3 days	20 °C		3.3
Shu (Sichuan) tu wine (蜀人作酴酒法)	Alcoholic drinks
Shubat / qymyran	Fermented milk	24 h – 2 days	20–25 °C		3.6–4.7
Shuidouchi (water douchi; natto-like Chinese douchi)	Soy and legumes	7–14 days			6.3 → 8.1
Shyow / sho (Tibetan and Himalayan yoghurt)	Fermented milk	24 h – 4 days	6.8–12.6 °C		6.5–6.5
Sichuan paocai	Vegetables	5–7 days	25 °C	4–8 %	6 → 4.3
Sour bamboo shoot (suan sun)	Vegetables	28 days	20–24 °C	0 %	5.7 → 4.81
Stinky tofu (chòu dòufu) — brine-soaked tofu, reference process	Soy and legumes	at least 12 months
Su (酥), churned from lao and rendered	Fermented milk	10 days
Suan doujiao (sour long beans)	Vegetables	30 days – 12 months		1.5 %	5.5 → 3.56
Suanrou	Meat	30 days – 2 months	25 °C	4 %	5.8 → 4.08
Suanyu	Fish and seafood	30 days – 2 months	22–25 °C	3 %	4.3–5.5
Tan-shih / kan-shih (salt-free soy nuggets, historical China)	Soy and legumes	10–15 days
Tianjin dong cai (garlic preserved cabbage)	Vegetables	5–8 months
Tou-huang (豆黃, yellow-coated black soybeans, historical China)	Starters and koji
Vinegars from failed wine (迴酒酢, 動酒酢)	Vinegar	7 days
West-wing divine qu and its millet wine (又神麴法 + 造酒法)	Starters and koji	21 days
White fermented tofu (bai furu, sufu) — reference process	Soy and legumes	2.6–6 months	25–28 °C	14 %	6–7
White-mash qu and white-mash wine (白醪麴 / 釀白醪, Huangfu family method)	Alcoholic drinks	21 days
Women's qu (女麴), rice-cake mould starter	Starters and koji	at least 21 days
Xiangxue jiu ("fragrant snow")	Alcoholic drinks	24 h
Xiaoqu / jiuyao (small qu, "wine medicine")	Starters and koji	30 h – 3 days	28–38 °C
Xinjiang Kazakh cheese (naigeda, 奶疙瘩)	Cheese	30 days – 2 months
Xinjiang nang (Uyghur naan) with sour dough starter	Cereals and bread
Xue cai / xuelihong (Ningbo salted potherb mustard, "red in snow")	Vegetables	30 days		6 %	6.1 → 4.34

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