There is a kind of food additive called monascus powder and a coloring agent for meat products. It is also a traditional food colorant in China. It is a natural red pigment, which is used for cooking and coloring. When cooking, a small amount of monascus powder will be used to enhance color and fragrance, such as braised pork and cherry meat, and baked and colored. In some bakery vendors, such as Qifeng cake, you can eat a small amount of monascus powder if you need a bright red color.

You can also brew yellow wine. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, it is a tradition to brew yellow rice wine with red koji, which has a good health-preserving effect and is also called red koji wine.

Bake and color. In some bakery vendors, such as Qifeng cake, you can eat a small amount of monascus powder if you need a bright red color.

Medicine major. The ancient medical book Compendium of Materia Medica recorded the use of monascus as medicine. In modern times, monascus powder is widely used in drugs for lowering blood fat and cholesterol.