【Reading】しっけ

【English Name】Sikhye

Sikhye (식혜) is a brewed beverage long handed down on the Korean Peninsula, completed by saccharifying cooked glutinous rice with malt and then cooling it. Because its production method and the nature of its sweetness are common to Japanese amazake, it is not uncommon for it to be brought up as a point of comparison.

The production process begins by soaking malt in warm water and separating the extract rich in amylase. That liquid is mixed with glutinous rice and slowly saccharified at a temperature zone of 60-70°C over 4-5 hours. When the rice grains rise from the bottom toward the water surface, that serves as the sign that saccharification is complete. After that, the sweetness is adjusted with sugar or honey, brought to a boil once, and then refrigerated. It is a reaction in which the amylase of the malt converts starch into sugars such as maltose, and the alcohol content of the final product is extremely low.

When serving, the traditional manner is to pour it into a vessel in a sufficiently chilled state and scatter pine nuts on the surface. Jujubes, yuzu peel, and pomegranate are often added as well. Regional interpretations are also widespread; in Andong of Gyeongsang Province, a distinctive preparation combining radish and chili powder has been handed down, and variations adding ingredients such as lotus leaf, pumpkin, corn, and Korean ginseng exist in various regions.

A culture of making it by hand at home for milestone events such as New Year's and Chuseok still lives on today, and it has long been enjoyed as a dessert that serves to aid digestion after a meal. Note that when written "sikhae (식해)," it means a completely different food in which seafood is fermented by a method close to narezushi, so caution is needed against confusing the meanings.