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1086 articles on substrates, cultures and additives.

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Koji and amylolytic starters

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AI-generated illustrative reconstruction of pale, flattened oval Dawdim starter cakes, based on published research photos. Not a source photograph, exact community artifact, recipe or safety validation.
Cultures

Dawdim

Dawdim is a dried rice-beer starter cake from Mizoram. Laboratories have listed its yeasts and moulds; no source gives how it is made, kept or used safely.

Cultures

Pee

Pee is a sun-dried rice starter from Arunachal Pradesh, India, made like other Eastern Himalayan dry starters. Its recorded bacterial population was high, and its named beverages are opo and apong.

Cultures

Paa

Paa is a sun-dried rice starter from Arunachal Pradesh, India, made from soaked rice flour and wild herbs. Families use it as the culture for mildly alcoholic rice drinks.

Cultures

Rhizopus (amylolytic mould in parakari)

A Rhizopus mould stage converts starch in cassava for the Wapishana drink parakari. The published abstracts name the mould and its role but not the full culture method.

White mould-covered rice sits in a paper-lined bowl beside a sealed plain pink sachet on a warm ivory surface.
Cultures

White-koji starter for shōchū

A seed culture of a white-spored Aspergillus koji mould, used to make the koji that starts Japanese shōchū mash, and named in the literature as Aspergillus luchuensis mut. kawachii.

Illustrative red hongqu rice starter grains in a plain bowl; not a photograph of a specific Gutian sample.
Cultures

Gutian hongqu

A regional form of hongqu, the red rice starter of southeastern China, named for Gutian and distinguished in Fujian studies from Wuyi hongqu. Documented only through modern regional comparisons.

Illustrative arrangement of mature pale low-temperature Daqu bricks stacked for storage; not a producer photograph.
Cultures

Low-temperature daqu

A shaped grain starter (daqu) from Chinese baijiu production, classed as low-temperature because its bricks reach the lowest peak temperatures of the three daqu types; used mainly for light-flavor baijiu.

A mature rectangular daqu grain starter brick with dense pressed-grain texture and natural tan-brown mottling, photographed alone on a pale surface.
Cultures

Medium-temperature daqu

A formed grain starter (daqu) for Chinese baijiu, classed as medium-temperature because its bricks reach a higher peak than low-temperature daqu; used mainly for strong-flavor baijiu.

Cultures

Phab

Bhutanese Phab, called Pho in a 2018 study, is a Drukpa starter associated with Ara. Bhutan sample studies document it separately from Ladakhi phabs; matching names elsewhere do not establish one culture.

Illustrative reconstruction of Khekhrii as pale sprouted rice grains after sun-drying; not a specific collected sample or a production method.
Cultures

Khekhrii

Khekhrii is a dried starter reported from Nagaland, made from naturally fermented sprouted rice and used for zutho. A 2018 study sampled five Khekhrii preparations but does not define every producer's practice.

Cultures

Phut

Phut is a dry rice starter cake made by the Monpa (Mongpa) community of Arunachal Pradesh, India, and used to start rice beverage fermentations. Published sources describe its making only in outline.

Cultures

Rhizopus microsporus

Rhizopus microsporus is a fast-growing mould of the Rhizopus group, found in fresh Indonesian tempeh, where it is the species that most tempeh strains belong to.

A clear glass Petri dish contains dark grey-black mould colonies with lighter margins on pale agar against a warm ivory background.
Cultures

Aspergillus luchuensis

Aspergillus luchuensis is the black koji mould used in Japanese shochu and awamori, valued for the citric acid it makes alongside the starch-converting enzymes of koji.

A shallow ivory ceramic dish holds soybean pieces and wheat covered with beige mould on a warm ivory background.
Cultures

Aspergillus sojae

Aspergillus sojae is a koji mould of the Aspergillus flavus group, closely related to A. oryzae, used as a starter in soybean fermentations such as Korean meju, doenjang and ganjang.

Cultures

Ragi tapé

Ragi tapé, also ragi tapai, is a dried mixed starter cake from Indonesia and Malay traditions, used to ferment sweet rice, cassava and related starchy foods.

Illustrative Korean rice Ipguk: distinct pale rice grains with a light koji bloom in a shallow bowl; maker and strain unspecified.
Cultures

Ipguk

Ipguk (입국) is Korean steamed rice grown with a selected koji mould, used as an enzyme-rich starter in makgeolli and yakju. It is not the same product as traditional nuruk.

A loose pile of dry burgundy-red hongqu rice grains, including broken pieces with pale interiors, rests on a warm ivory surface.
Cultures

Wuyi hongqu

Wuyi hongqu is a regional red rice starter from the Wuyi area of Fujian, described as a mixed Monascus and Aspergillus culture used in rice wine and, in one report, cereal vinegar.

Illustrative dried Cambodian rice-liquor starter cake from one documented Banteay Chmar form; not a universal Dombae formula.
Cultures

Dombae

Dombae (dombea, medombae) is a Cambodian dried mixed starter for rice fermentation; studied samples differ, so the names do not specify one formula.

Cultures

Men / banh men (Vietnamese starter)

Men or bánh men is a mixed Vietnamese starch-based rice fermentation starter. Published samples vary; their isolates and performance do not define a standard culture or household formula.

Illustrative reconstruction of one documented dry Loog-pang starter-cake form; shape and color vary among makers and variants.
Cultures

Loog-pang / luk paeng (Thai starter)

Loog-pang (luk paeng/look-pang) is a Thai mixed starter used with rice in distinct foods and drinks, including sato and khao mak. Studies describe different samples and one reported cake-making account, not a universal formula.

Two beige round nuruk grain cakes and a thick broken piece rest on a warm ivory surface.
Cultures

Korean nuruk

Korean nuruk is a grain-based starter used to ferment traditional Korean alcoholic drinks. Its microbial communities vary among samples, so the name does not specify one organism or standardized culture.

Editorial photograph of several compact, rough tan rectangular Maiqu wheat-qu starter blocks. The block form is source-supported; this is an illustrative image, not a photograph of a specific Shaoxing batch.
Cultures

Maiqu

Maiqu (麦曲, wheat qu) is a wheat-based enzyme starter used in Chinese huangjiu such as Shaoxing wine; it is a starter category, not one defined strain.

AI-generated editorial illustration of pale, flat-to-oval Chowan starter cakes based on one reported form; illustrative only, not a verified specimen or a universal appearance.
Cultures

Chowan

Chowan is a dried cereal starter associated with Tripura. Published accounts differ on its local names, and microbial findings come from sampled cakes; no single origin, method or culture is established.

Cultures

Thiat

Thiat is a dried mixed starter used for alcoholic beverages in Meghalaya. Field accounts differ and laboratory studies describe particular samples; none gives a universal recipe or validated household method.

Cultures

Fuqu

Fuqu (鹸曲, bran qu) is a bran-based starter format used in Chinese liquor production; it is a production format, not one fixed species or formula.

Illustrative mature high-temperature daqu blocks with coarse tan-brown grain texture; appearance reference only, not a production or safety method.
Cultures

High-temperature daqu

High-temperature daqu is a formed, mixed-community grain starter used for sauce-aroma (Maotai-flavor) baijiu, made by a separate heat-driven process and sold or kept as dry bricks.

Illustrative editorial still life of one pale, flattened Humao starter cake, a source-documented Dimasa cereal starter associated with Judima; not a specific household's cake or a universal form.
Cultures

Humao

Humao is a sun-dried cereal starter of the Dimasa in Assam, used for Judima rice beer. Accounts of its making are single-household reports and microbial studies describe single sample sets, not a standard.

Illustrative editorial still life of pale, flattened Hamei rice-starter cakes on a woven tray; accounts differ, so this is one plausible appearance, not a universal form or specific sample.
Cultures

Hamei

Hamei is a Manipur rice-cake starter used for Atingba. Accounts of how the cakes are made differ, and microbial studies describe particular samples; none defines a universal formula or safety standard.

Cultures

White-rice-flour nuruk

A shaped, inoculated white-rice-flour starter prepared by Han and colleagues for a 2021 yakju comparison; the commercial baekguk strain was not identified.

Dark granular seed koji in a shallow ivory ceramic dish on a warm ivory background.
Cultures

Seed koji

Tane-koji is the mold inoculum Sakimoto plants on steamed rice to make rice koji for Yonaguni awamori; its exact strain and supplier are unpublished.

Dry yellow-green granular koji starter in a shallow ivory ceramic dish on a warm ivory surface.
Cultures

Yellow-koji starter

Yellow-koji starter is the spore inoculum of the yellow koji mold — Aspergillus oryzae and the related A. sojae — sold by specialist tane-kōji houses to grow koji for sake, miso and soy sauce.