Tapai and Lihing: Sabah's Rice Wines Explained

Tapai and lihing are traditional rice wines of Sabah's Kadazan-Dusun communities, often brewed at home and served at celebrations such as the Kaamatan harvest festival. Both are alcoholic.

How strong are they?

Stronger than most grape wine. Free Malaysia Today reported in 2019 that Sabah rice wine usually has 13% to 21% alcohol, against about 12% for commercial wine; other summaries put Sabah tapai at 10% to 20%.

Tapai

Tapai is fermented rice. Cooked rice is mixed with a yeast starter, called laru or ragi, and left to age in a tajau, a large ceramic jar.

At gatherings it has traditionally been drunk straight from the jar through a shared straw, a practice called siopon. Health officials in Penampang have encouraged the tumpung instead: tapai poured into a small container for each drinker, which lowers the risk of spreading tuberculosis.

Lihing

Lihing is made from glutinous rice and a natural yeast called sasad. Malaysia's National Department for Culture and Arts says it ferments for two to three months, against one to two weeks for kinomol, a shorter-fermented rice wine, and that the longer fermentation gives lihing more alcohol.

It is sweet and usually drunk chilled, and Penampang, next to Kota Kinabalu, is especially known for it. Lihing is also a cooking ingredient: it goes into sup manuk lihing, a chicken soup, and into some versions of Tuaran mee.