Recipe (Amazake)
Recipe 1: basic Amazake
Hot Amazake
Ingredients
a) water,
b) koji,
c) cooked rice.
* The ratio of them is 1 : 1 : 2.
- warm a) water to 65℃ (149°F) .
- add b) koji (at room temperature) and c) cooked rice in the hot water.
- mix them well and keep them at 55-60℃ (131-140°F) for 8-12 hours.
* Yogurt maker is strongly recommended to keep it at a constant temperature. - check the sweetness.
If it is in the sweetness of your preference, stop to heat it. - transfer it in the fridge to keep it for about 1 month.
Add citrus fruit, ginger or other spice depending on your taste.
Recipe 2: lacto-fermented Amazake
Next, I’d like to introduce a new type of Amazake which is not so common even in Japan.
It is widely known that homemade Amazake contains bacteria that produce lactic acid.
By using this bacteria, we can make lacto-fermented one.
To be precise, this is “rice yoghourt”.
The combination of natural sweetness and sourness creates a delightful flavour.
In addition, it is very nutritious, full of koji- derived enzymes and vitamins, together with lactic acid.
But anyway, please keep it in mind that this one can only be made by using not-pasteurised homemade amazake.
cold amasake with ice
Ingredients
a) homemade Amazake
b) a jar with a screw-on lid
- Fill the jar to the brim with amazake and close the lid, leaving as little air as possible.
- Keep the jar in the fridge for about 7 days.
- Open the lid and smell it.
If you can smell a pleasant, sour-sweet lactic aroma, take the jar out of the fridge and leave the jar at room temperature for 3-5 days.
* If you don’t smell this aroma, close the lid and put the jar back in the fridge - Check the change of Amazake on a daily basis (colour, taste etc.), using all your instincts.
- When it becomes the taste of your preference, put the jar again inside the fridge and taste it whenever you like. It will keep in the fridge for about 1 month.
