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This recipe is for a very basic amazake. It’s traditionally made with rice — brown, sweet brown, or white — but it works wonders on any grain. This amazake has a thick consistency; eat it as is, or blend it with water to make an amazake beverage. We recommend topping warm amazake with a little butter and some dried fruit for a fermented porridge. This recipe calls for 1-1/2 cups rice koji, but if you have more koji, you can play around with the ratios. We’ve found that a higher ratio of koji to fresh rice causes the amazake to liquefy more and become sweeter. It’ll also ferment more quickly; be sure to catch it before it starts to sour. Also, fresh koji will take less time than dry koji.
Yield: about 1-1/2 quarts amazake mash.
Fermentation Time
Fermentation Type: Autolytic
Primary Fermentation: 6 to 12 hours
Total Time: 12 hours
Ingredients
- 1-1/2cups brown, sweet brown, or white rice
- Water
- 1-1/2 cups fresh rice koji or dried rice koji grains
Note: Don’t use distilled water, as the fermentation needs the trace amounts of calcium in tap water.
Instructions
- If you’re using brown rice or another whole grain, soak it for 8 hours or overnight. Drain the rice.
- Cook the rice in a rice cooker or on the stovetop. When finished, let it cool to 135 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add the rice koji to the cooked grain and mix well. Pour the mixture into a 2-quart mason jar and tighten the lid.
- Set the jar in an incubation chamber at a temperature between 135 and 138 degrees. Incubate the mixture for 6 to 10 hours, or until it has a floral aroma and a mild, sweet taste. The cooler the incubation, the longer it’ll take. After the first hour, stir the mixture; stir again once or twice during incubation. If you want a sweeter and more liquid finished product, let it ferment a little longer. However, keep a close eye on your mixture from this point on; when it hits its time limit, the flavor will start to turn sour, with bitter or alcoholic notes.
- When the amazake is finished, move it to the refrigerator, where the enzymes will cool enough to halt the process. If you prefer a smooth texture, blend the amazake in a blender or food processor before cooling it down. It’ll keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 months, or in the freezer for 6 months.
Note: Many recipes recommend boiling the amazake, essentially pasteurizing it, when it’s finished. However, this deactivates the enzymes.