A Traditional Way of Brewing Spirits

In the Longgong Village, Ninghai county lives more than 600 families, only ten of which still have the tradition to brew spirits* with sweet potatoes. In spring, two big kitchen ranges were set up out of the old ancestral hall. The villagers started the fire below the ranges with wood and thick bamboo tubes; soon, the mellow scent of spirits crept out of the sky, reaching toward people. They added the white powder into sweet potatoes for the fermentation and mixed them with rice chaff at a specific ratio. When the ingredients were steamed in the kitchen ranges, the steam liquified on the pot cover would flow down to the ceramic jars incessantly. The product was spirits with high concentration of alcohol. The spirits brewed were mainly for themselves, rather than for commercial purposes.

A pot of noodles was placed on the table, which was probably their snacks in the afternoon. The man was so nice that he noticed my hunger and handed me a big steaming bowl of noodles with shredded meat. I ate them all, wiped my mouth, and was about to thank them, noticing the old people had not even picked up their chopsticks yet…

*Spirits: An alcoholic beverage, especially distilled liquor.