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Red Glutinous Wine Mee Sua
Update (4 Aug 2014): First posted in Apr 2010, now updated with new photos and improved recipe.
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Whenever my mum goes back to her hometown in Sitiawan, Perak (Malaysia), I will beg her to bring back some her hometown’s famous mee suah (aka flour vermicelli 面线) and ang zao jiu (aka red glutinuous wine 红槽酒) back for me. Details on where to buy them at the end of this page. The Chinese population in Perak is largely Foo Chow (hock chew 福州) and the Foo chow red glutinous mee sua and chicken are famous specialties there. With the best ingredients money can possibly buy, it is very easy to whip up this one-dish meal of red glutinous mee sua with chicken (红槽鸡面线).
Similar Recipe: Red Glutinous Wine Chicken
When I ask my relatives about the art of wine making, superstitions come flying around. “You must be in a good mood when making the wine”, “You must NOT ask about the status of the wine or the whole batch will be ruined” etc. It all sounds unbelievably irrational, until I realised that somehow, the best glutinous red wine I have tasted are always home-made. I don’t even want to start ranting on how bad some of the mass-produced factory wine lees taste. To me, as long as you can procure good quality wine and wine lees, you can get way with “anyhow cooking” this dish (sometimes I even skip the chicken marination part) – which explains the simplicity of this recipe.
If you ever have a chance to visit Sitiawan, Perak, I urge you to buy some of the quality wine lees and hand-made mee sua (福州面线) there. The shop I am recommending (see contact details at the end of the page) has been around for more than twenty years, and today, their mee sua is still hand made. If you visit their shop, you can see the mee sua being sun dried on poles. Being hand-made, they are not the thinnest mee sua out there, yet the texture is superior! Our car boot back from Malaysia is always filled with friends and relatives requests for them. Their particular mee sua is (deliciously) salty on its own, so cooking them separately in a pot of water is a must.
Like their mee sua, their red glutinous wine (and lees) are deliciously savoury on its own, which is why you can see that my recipe is so minimum with simple seasonings.
Where to buy good quality red glutinous wine & mee suah
家發手工福州麵線 Perusahaan Makanan Jia Fatt
No. 2179B, Kampung Bintang, 32000 Sitiawan, Perak, Malaysia
H/P: 012-5709507, 016-5003955Note: This is NOT a paid or sponsored mention. I am just sharing good finds with my readers :)
hi priscilla, I’ve never made ang zao before, so I’m not the right person to ask :P
One and half month, my friends (ang zao lovers) are here for a vacation. They checked my ang zao and declared it a success! I now have supplies and will wait for winter before cooking ang zao chicken, it is way too hot to eat that now.
that’s good news! congrats! :D
I heard you have to keep the lees in the fridge if you wish to store for long :)
Yeah, I kept it in the fridge, but my ang zao does not have a lot of liquid in it, do you think it is normal. Oh! my eighteen year old son asked for ang zao chicken with mee suah , I followed your recipe and it was a hit ! Thank you for your wonderful recipe, it made me look like a very clever cook!
glad to hear that, you’re too kind. What recipe did you use to make the ang zao? Is it difficult?
Does anyone know if I can buy the Sitiawan mee suah from Singapore? I saw a Foochow bldg ard Jln Besar area, dunno if they sell there haha
let me know if you do ever venture in, I’m so curious what they have there :D
May go to Singapore in August, hope to buy Sitiawan mee suah too, is there a foochow building in jalan besar? What is it called, may want to check it out whilst visiting.
http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_2806/travel_site_16042/
Its called FOOCHOW BUILDING 21 Tyrwhitt Road 207530
Only drove past, did not enter, no idea what they do or sell in that building :p
Hi,
My mother is making the ang chao and wine. We are Foo chew as well, from Sitiawan too.
My mom is from Kluang, her angzao recipe is as follows:-
1 kilo glutinous rice
2 pcs wine starter (jiu piah)
100 grams red kek rice
1/4 cup boiled and chilled water
Soak glutinous rice for one hour, steam for 30 minutes till cooked. Spread to cool. Crush or blend wine starter with red kek rice till fine. Wet hands and sprinkle over glutinous rice and mix thoroughly. Bottle the mixture in sterile containers and sprinkle remaining water over the top of mixture. (I forgot the water in my first attempt, that was why my angzao took two months to ferment and it rendered barely any wine) . My mom would stir it one week later and leave it for another month before harvesting. My first attempt was successful, and hope all you az addicts out there will attempt if you cannot buy good ones. Better to make your own than suffer from inferior anzao.
Hi Priscilla, Do u mean 1/4 cup of boiled water (not hot?) and 1/4 cup chilled water? Thanks.
Ah!!!.. after re-reading the recipe, I got it. Sorry..my bad. Planning to make it over d next few days. Wish me luck.
Thanks for sharing your recipe :) I must find the ingredients at a traditional medical store first =D
When you say “Crush or blend wine starter with red kek rice till fine.” can I use a blender?
Hi Jellio Jan
Do you live in Singapore?
I am not Foochow but myself is. I just felt in love with this dish. Now I am trying to make my own Angchow. My 1st attempt wasn’t successful. It was too startchy. I guess there are too much left over rice. My second batch is already more tha 2 months and it looks promising. I intend to improve on this receipe and may want to sell this commercially.
This is truly an acquire taste.
Hi Jenny and all,
Sorry for the not so precise recipe ; boiled water is actually boiled and cooled. Yes I used a blender to blend the wine starter and red kek rice. I cooked ang zao chicken last Sunday for some Singaporean/Malaysian friends, they were so impressed that I made it and had me give then each a small jar. To be able to share this ang zao really made my efforts worth while. Do try making, we don’t want our future generation grow up without knowing their food roots!
HI Priscilla hk,
yes I stay in Spore.
My mother method is a bit different from urs. Infact, my mother is very careful that no water going into the mixture cos it will spoilt the fermentation.
If u want more wine, u shld cook the rice with more water. The rice will be a bit mushy. She spread the wine starter and red ker rice layer by layer and let it ferment for 3 months.
She usually use 2.5 – 3kg of g.rice