Fujian Red Qu Wine

Red yeast rice

Hongqu is produced from steamed rice inoculated with Monascus and fermented in solid state. It has been used in China for thousands of years as a food colouring, a wine starter and a food additive. Two types dominate rice wine brewing: Gutian hongqu and Wuyi hongqu.

The heartland

Red yeast rice wine is made across Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Taiwan, and in Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Its heartland is Pingnan County, in Ningde, Fujian, where producers use mountain spring water, highland glutinous rice and handmade red yeast in family-based workshops.

From ruby to amber

As the wine ages, the Maillard reaction transforms it: the young wine is ruby red and matures to golden-amber, with complex flavours of caramel and umami. In Fujian it is also used in cooking, and is considered both a drink and a traditional tonic.

How to recognise it

Look for 红曲酒 (hóngqū jiǔ) or names such as Fujian laojiu (福建老酒) and Longyan chengangjiu (龙岩沉缸酒). Young wines are clearly ruby red; aged ones turn golden amber with a red glint.

How it tastes

Red qu wine is sweet-sour and fragrant, with notes of red fruit, honey and rice when young, and caramel, dried fruit and a savoury depth when aged. It is often richer and sweeter than Shaoxing wine.

A wine for new mothers

In Fujian and among Hakka communities, red qu wine is traditionally cooked with chicken and ginger and given to women after childbirth, as a warming, restorative dish.

How to taste it

Serve it at room temperature or gently warmed, in small cups. In winter it is often warmed with ginger.