Tape (tapai, tapay, lao-chao of khao-mak) starter

With our tape starter you can make Tapai (also often written as tapay or tape, and known in China and Thailand respectively as lao-chao and khao-mak), a traditional fermented alcoholic preparation of rice or other starchy foods found in a large part of Southeast Asia and share of East Asia. The name refers to both the alcoholic rice paste and the alcoholic beverage derived from it.

Alcohol that you can drink or eat!

It has a sweet or sour taste and can be eaten as such, used as an ingredient for traditional recipes, or fermented further to make rice wine (which is confusingly called tapai in some cultures).

Tapai is traditionally made with glutinous rice (ketan rice or sticky rice), but can also be made from various other carbohydrate sources, including cassava and potatoes.

The fermentation is very complex, different fungi, yeasts and bacteria play a role.

Content tape starter

• 10 grams
• Ingredient: Tapai starter (including Aspergillus oryzae, Rhizopus oryzae, Amylomyces rouxii or Mucor species and yeasts including Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomycopsis fibuliger and Endomycopsis burtonii). The starter is also known under the names peh-chu (China), Ragi tapai (Indonesia, Malaysia), nuruk (Korea), Budod / budur / bubud / budbud or budbod (Philippines) or look-paeng (Thailand).
• Storage instructions: keep in the fridge for at least 6 months, more than a year in the freezer
• Origin: Indonesia

Instruction for making edible Tapai yourself

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of white glutinous rice (sticky rice, ketan rice, for sale at the toko)
• Water
• 2 teaspoons of tape starter
• 1/2 cup of sugar

Preparation

1. Allow the rice to soak overnight in plenty of water.
2. Rinse and steam the soaked rice for 45 minutes and allow it to cool to body temperature. Be careful that the rice is not too hot, because heat can damage the starter culture.
3. Sprinkle the tape starter over the rice and mix for a minute with a clean spoon to distribute evenly. Mix the starter and rice well to reduce the risk of spoilage and shorten the amount of time needed for fermentation.
4. Mix half a cup of sugar with water.
5. Wrap the rice in layers in a pot. Pour some sugar water between each layer to speed up the fermentation process.
6. Fermentation in a warm place (25-30 degrees) for 2-4 days.
7. After 2 days you will probably see a little liquid in the bottom of the pot and the smell of the rice will change.
8. At this moment the fermentation process is complete, but the taste of the Tapai will improve if it is kept in the refrigerator for a few days.
9. The liquid that accumulates at the bottom of the container is a rice wine called brem. Normally it has a very low alcohol content after a few days, but if it is fermented further (for a longer period?), the alcohol content increases. See also the recipe for rice wine.

And now?

There are many ways to present fermented glutinous rice. You can eat it like that. You can also add it to the meal, including ice cream and yogurt!

Usually, fermented sticky rice is packed in pots, or in the traditional way, packed with guava leaf or banana leaf.

Buying a tape starter?

Order your tape starter at startercultures.eu, the European webshop for all your fermentation needs. By Meneer Wateetons, renowned Dutch fermentation expert and author. Order on weekdays before  3 pm and we’ll ship the same day.  Questions on the usage of the tape starter? Ask them in our chat, we’re here to help!

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