Have you ever heard of amazake? Amazake is Japanese traditional sweet drink made from fermented rice. It contains rich enzymes and probiotics.
The name of “Amazake” is a compound word of “ama” and “sake.” “Ama” means sweet. And, “zake” means “sake”, but it does not contain any alcohol.
Yesterday I made my homemade Amazake. It was my first time to make it at home. My Japanese friend made it possible. She sent me some koji and taught me the recipe.
The recipe was simple.
I cooked Japanese rice and put three cups of rice (450g) in a container. After letting it cool off for a while, I added 1 bag of koji (300g) and mixed them well. I covered the container with a blanket to keep it warm, and stored it into a cooler box with warm water for all night.
Next morning when I opened the container, the gentle and warm fragrance spread all around the kitchen. My daughter thought I was baking a fresh bread. We sampled the amazake. It was very sweet, even though I did not add any sugar or other sweetness.
Probably the hardest part of making homemade amazake is to prepare koji. You can buy it in America, but it is very, very expensive.
I saw some recipe videos on how to make homemade koji. One of these days I will make my homemade koji too.
♬ Any feedback? (^^♪
three wisdom 