Arak

Japanese: アラク

Also known as arak. A distilled alcoholic drink from tropical regions. Currently, the manufacturing method varies from country to country, and includes distillation of toddy made by fermenting coconut juice, and fermentation and distillation of rice saccharified with toddy and molasses. In Iraq and Syria, dates are used as the raw material. It has an alcohol content of over 50%. It becomes cloudy when water is added. It is said that the name comes from the fact that it was originally made from the rhizomes of a plant called araksa, and in Islamic countries, distilled alcoholic drinks brought as souvenirs are generally called arak. It was introduced to Japan from the Netherlands during the Edo period, where it was called Araki, and was a representative example of the so-called Nanban imported alcoholic drinks.

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

アラックとも。熱帯地方の蒸留酒。現在では国によって製法が異なり，ココヤシの汁液を発酵させたトディーを蒸留したもの，米を糖化しトディーや糖蜜を加え発酵，蒸留したものなどがある。イラクやシリアなどではナツメヤシを原料とする。アルコール分50％以上。水を加えると白濁する。元来，アラックサという植物の根茎を原料としたのでこの名があるといわれ，またイスラム教諸国では土産の蒸留酒を一般にアラックと呼ぶ。日本へは江戸時代にオランダから伝来，阿剌吉(あらき)と呼ばれ，いわゆる南蛮渡来酒の代表であった。

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