Red yeast rice, also known as red mold rice or red rice, is mentioned in the book "Yin Shan Zheng Yao". It is a product made from the mycelium and spores of the red mold Monascus purpureus Went., which is artificially cultivated to grow inside glutinous rice, turning the entire rice grain red.
[Processing Method] 1. Red yeast rice in "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Take one stone and five dou of glutinous rice, soak it in water overnight, and cook it. Divide it into fifteen portions, add two jin of red yeast rice, knead it evenly, and form it into one portion, covering it tightly with cloth. When it is hot, remove the cloth and spread it out, feel the temperature, and pile it up tightly. The next day at noon, divide it into three piles, and after a while, divide it into five piles, then after another hour, combine them into one pile, and after another hour, divide it into fifteen piles, and when it is slightly warm, form it into one pile again, repeating this process several times. On the third day, use a large bucket to hold freshly drawn water, use a bamboo sieve to hold the red yeast rice and soak it until moist, then form it into one pile again using the previous method. On the fourth day, repeat the process. If the yeast floats halfway and sinks halfway, repeat the previous method and soak it again. If it floats completely, it is done, take it out and let it dry in the sun." In "Medical Notes": "Clean it by winnowing." Currently, there are two methods: ① Natural fermentation method: select red soil and dig a deep pit. Spread a mat around the pit, pour in glutinous rice, and press it with heavy stones to ferment and turn it red. After 3 to 4 years, the outer skin of the rice grains becomes purple-red, and the inside also becomes red. If there are white spots inside, it means it is not fully cooked and the quality is poor. Take it out and dry it. ② Artificially controlled fermentation method: adjust maltose to a sugar content of 20°, add 0.5% ammonium sulfate, 5% soluble starch, and 2% agar, heat and dissolve, divide it into test tubes, sterilize, and condense. Then add purple-red Monascus purpureus strain, culture and activate it, and store it at 2-4℃. Take the above culture medium (without agar), divide it into 100ml portions in 250ml Erlenmeyer flasks, add fire bacteria, wait for it to cool down, and under aseptic conditions, take about 1mm2 of secondary bacteria for inoculation. Culture at 32℃ for 120 hours, and it can be used. Put glutinous rice into a water tank, submerge the rice with water, soak for 12-24 hours to fully absorb moisture, then take it out and steam it in a steamer for 20 minutes. Prepare a 5% acetic acid solution with sterile water cooled to 40℃, add it to the strain bottle, 100ml per bottle, activate it at 32℃ for 6 hours. When the temperature of the steamed rice drops to 40℃, add the above-mentioned strain liquid, stir well to make the rice turn red. The inoculation amount is 100ml of strain liquid per 1kg of steamed rice. Put the mixed yeast material into a cloth bag, about 2kg per bag, occupying about 2/3 of the volume of the cloth bag, and put it on the bed in the fermentation room. At the beginning, the room temperature should be kept at 26-30℃. After 24 hours, due to the fermentation of the yeast rice, the temperature of the yeast rice can reach above 38℃. Open the ventilation window with a filtering device for natural ventilation. If the temperature is too high, a fan can be used for cooling. After 48 hours, a large amount of water evaporates. The rice, along with the cloth bag, can be immersed in clean water for 20 minutes. Afterwards, water should be sprinkled every 2 hours to maintain the water content at 38%-40%, and the cloth bag should be shaken frequently to ensure uniform fermentation. When all the glutinous rice turns purple-red, pour it out, pile it up, and cover it with a cloth bag overnight. When the rice grains are opened and the inner part is bright red, spread it out to dry or dry it at 60℃.
2. Red yeast charcoal in "Lei Bian Zhu Shi Ji Yan Yi Fang": "Roast on a tile." In "Huo You Xin Shu": "Stir-fry." In "Pao Zhi Da Fa": "If it has been stored for a long time, blow off the dust, roast and grind it."
