- Other English name(s): Korean rice beer, Korean rice wine
- Romanized: Makgeolli
- Also Romanized as: makkoli, makkeolli, makkolli, mack gully, makoli, makguli, makgoli
- Other Korean name(s): 농주 (nongju: farmer liquor)
- Categories: cold, drink, fermented, non spicy, vegetarian
- Made with: dry yeast, nuruk, rice, sugar,
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Why does the rice need to be dehydrated?
I am so excited to find this recipe and your awesome blog! I’ve bought and fallen in love with makgeolli. I was wondering if there is anything I can do with the sediment in the bottle? Can I use it as a strter to make my own? Add fruit juice and wait to see if alcohol happens? Add it to flour for a fermented dough?
Hello Maangchi,
I am making Makgeolli for the second time since it turned out so good. I brought a bottle of my first batch to my favorite Korean restaurant 가향 (Ga Hyang) in Phoenix, AZ just to see what the cook and waitress thought of it. They both loved it so I decided to make another batch.
I have made several of your recipes that turned out fantastic. I just made some fishcake which are still warm as I write this. I used salmon instead of cod and used octopus instead of squid. They turned out FANTASTIC!!!!! They were pretty fun to make too.
I made your Braised Lotus root twice which turned out fantastic both times. I made both “Traditional Kimchi” and “Easy Kimchi” which both turned out great as well. I left the second one I made “Easy Kimchi” sit on the counter for 4 days to ferment and it turned out really sour. I brought a jar of that to the Korean restaurant as well and the waitress , Su (a native Korean) loved it but it was a bit too sour for her. She told me to make kimchi stew with it which I did and that turned out PHENOMENAL !!! Sooooo delicious that I made it twice in 3 days.
I have made a few more of your recipes and they all turned out great. A few months ago I planned a trip to South Korea near the end of this coming August for 11 days and started doing some research and found your website and I think your a really amazing cook. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge of your native country with the world. I have a new found respect and love for Korean cooking and culture and can’t wait to experience South Korea in person.
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I really want to try making this; unfortunately I gave away my dehydrator and I do not have a crock so I will have to figure out how to improvise! I have a question though…is there any chance you could post a recipe for Jeonju-style moju? I purchased some on my two visits there in 2009 and have been wishing for some ever since.
Hi Ashley,
I didn’t use a dehydrator either time I made my Makgeolli. I found 2 pizza pans that are like a flat strainer with holes in them. I make round flat rice patties out of the sticky rice and place them gently on the pans and set the oven for 170 deg. for about 2 hours. the rice turned out perfect. I paid $10 for both pans. Something to think about.
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Thank for posting I had makeogelli here and then went to Busan where my lovely Airbnb host treated me to Busan makeogeolli when they knew I liked it. It was wonderful I think even better than Seoul’s!!
After I made my first batch when I got home from Korea last year I’m not sure if it fermented too long it, had small white patches on top after I had made it ? What does that signify. I don’t have an onggi I used a clear jar with a cheesecloth.
Going to try again.
Also to keep the temp consistance can you use a heating pad. The weather here is. But unpredictable with colder nights in Spring time.
Thanks for any advice Deirdre
Hi Maangchi,
Thank you so much for all of your delicious recipes, I have followed your website for years and always enjoy trying yummy new Korean food!
I have made your makgeolli recipe a few times now, and it is very delicious however I am having trouble with the level of carbonation. After I first make it in strain it, it seems perfect and just slightly bubbly, however after just a day of being bottled in the refrigerator it explodes like soda when I opened it and becomes very, very bubbly. I love the delicious flavor of the makgeolli, but I do not think it is supposed to be so carbonated.
Do you have any suggestions on how I can prevent my makgeolli from tasting like soda?
Thank you so much!
You can poke a very small hole in the lid of the bottle to prevent carbonation.
Hi Maangchi, do you think it would be ok to use pre prepared dried sticky rice like in this photo? It is fully dried and is not still moist on the inside.
I don’t have ready access to a rice cooler as I am currently living in a hotel.
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Hi Maangchi!
I just bought an Onggi at PAT in Toronto to make this, and I’m so excited. :)
I was wondering if you could help me out though, with a few questions:
1) I don’t have a dehydrator, nor is it sunny and breezy here right now. Could I dehydrate the rice in the oven somehow? Or could I skip this step altogether?
2) How long do you think the Makgeolli will keep in bottles in the fridge after the fermentation process?
3) Can I wash an Onggi with soap, or should I only use water?
Thanks in advance for your help. Going to give bottles of this as Xmas gifts this year!
Big fan since 2007! :) :) Love all your recipes and videos.
I used to shop at the same store where you go! I miss the store! I bought my large onggi there and brought it all the way to New York! : )
Now I will give you short answers.
1) Yes, you can use oven to dry the rice a little bit.
2) It will be ok up to 1 month. Maybe longer than 1 month but I always use it up before that.
3) Don’t use any soap or detergent because onggi has microscopic holes. These micropores allow some gases to pass in and out and breathe. Soap will get into the holes and get into your food. So use only cold, warm or hot water, and scrub it. Some smells will remain even after washing, so if this bothers you, you can give it a good clean by filling it with hot water and letting it sit for 24 hours. Then pour it out and fill it up again with water and let it sit another 24 hours. You can do this until you’re satisfied that it’s clean and doesn’t smell at all.
A quick way is to just rinse a couple of times and dry it well with a kitchen towel and then set it out to air dry after.
But even after cleaning, I keep an onggi exclusively reserved for making makgeolli, and when I’m not making makgeolli it sits empty. I can use the same onggi to make soy sauce or doenjang or fish sauce because all of them are fermented and pungent. But once it’s used to make those things the smell never totally goes away, so I keep one onggi reserved for makgeolli and never use it for anything else.
Good luck with making good makgeolli!
Thank you for getting back to me with the tips, Maangchi. Much appreciated! :) Everything is already looking and smelling great. Cannot wait to try it. Thanks again for all your work and recipes. With warmth, Myron.
This did not turn out quite as I expected. After straining it was a lot thinner than the picture in step 9 (basically the same consistency as plain water). It also separates very quickly in the bottles. It’s been a little bit since I’ve had any (store bought) makgeolli, but it I remember it being homogeneous, sweeter, and less boozy. What I made tastes okay, but I think I may prefer something closer to the store bought stuff. I’m more interested in something light and slightly sweet than in getting tipsy. Next time I will try to bottle some of the mixture at various stages to see what I like best.
Do you have to have dry yeast starter? Can you rely on wild yeasts to start this fermentation?
Yay! My makgeolli was ready this morning! I strained it and added the 8 cups of water and sugar. It made a whole gallon! I had an empty makgeolli bottle that I bought from the store, so I filled it up so I can share it with one of my friends. It’s the first time I tasted homemade makgeolli, and it’s so much better than the one sold in the market! Thank you for teaching me how to make this, it’s my first time making booze! :)
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I guess Hawaii is warm so it takes exactly one week to make makgeolli. So every Saturday I will be cooking rice and making this liquor! One gallon a week is perfect! I’m cooking the rice for my second batch right now :)
Yes, homemade makgeolli is much more intense taste than store-bought makgeolli. Yours looks great! Congratulations!
Hi Maangchi!
Quick question for you and all of the makkeoli makers out there. I started my makkeoli 5 days ago and I am at the same point as per your directions. However I took a quick taste today and I noticed that my makkeoli smells a little bit musty/mildewy. Is this a natural part of the process? I did notice on day 1 that my nuruk smelled the same way but I just assumed that it was normal and contributed to the fermentation process. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
My mixture smelled really nice on day 1 and 2, almost like bananas. The rest of the days it had a musty mildew smell like you describe. But it turned out fantastic when I bottled it this morning. I think your batch is going to be okay :)
Hi Maangchi! Thanks for the recipe. My first try of making Makgeolli turns out really good! Me and my husband are enjoying it soo much!
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omg! It looks thick, strong, and tasty! : )
Hi Maangchi! First let me say that I love watching your videos! You are my “go to” person when I want to cook Korean food. That being said, I’m on my 7th day of fermentation and my makgeolli has not separated yet. It smells wonderful tho! The only change I made was using my rice cooker so instead of 5 cups of rice, I used seven 3/4 cups which would be the equivalent of 5-1/4 cups of rice. Would the extra 1/4 cup make a difference?
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I also used my rice cooker. Inside of my rice pot there are lines telling me how much water to add. But I followed Maangchi’s instructions and added 5 cups rice and I measured 4 cups of water. It filled the rice pot to the exact line where I would normally fill the water. So now I know I can just cook 5 cups of rice without measuring the water. My mixture was in a very wide container and I couldn’t see any seperation until day 7. It was just a very very thin layer of clear liquid on top. Today is day 8 and my mixture was finished. The liquid on top had an amber color, but still it was a very thin layer on top. But it turned out fine when I bottled it and tasted a sample. I think your mixture will be okay! :)
Hi Maangchi! I haven’t made this before. How do you infuse/add fruit or other items to the makgeolli? I would like to try adding apple or strawberry to it. I also remember in Jeju-do they hade a famous pumpkin makgeolli. Do you just add the raw fruit into the dried rice in step 3 so it ferments with everything else? Or would you have to cook it a bit first?