I sometimes make homemade Amazake which is a traditional sweet, non-alcohol Japanese drink made from fermented rice (kome koji), and this is believed to be very nutritious.

We Japanese have Another type of amazake made from sake kasu (lees left from sake production) which is alcoholic.

Rice koji (kome koji) is rice covered with a kind of mold. And this mold is enzyme and fermentation starter. By fermenting rice with rice koji below 60°C (140°F), starch turns to sugar. So that without adding any sugar, amazake tastes very sweet. It sounds more like chemistry than cooking.

Here is a recipe to make it.

< ingredients>

200g fermented rice ( rice koji – Kome koji) not sake kasu

250ml or 300ml water (depends on the taste)

a thermos bottle

#1

Heat water to around 60℃ by kettle.

Put both 200g rice koji and the 60℃ water into the pot.

Boil the remaining water in the kettle again.

Put the boiled water into the thermos bottle and put the lid on to make it warm.

#2

Heat the rice koji in the pot to about 65℃ degrees mixing well.

#3

Remove the water in the thermos bottle out, and pour the heated rice koji (#2) into the bottle and shut the lid to keep warm.

#4

After 4 hours check the temperature, if it is under 60℃, reheat it to 60℃, and pour it into the bottle and shut the lid again

Leave it for at least 4 hours again and keep warm between 50℃ and 60℃.

#5

It’s done!!

*If the taste is not sweet, need to keep warm more in the bottle.

If it’s too sweet for you, you can add a little water when you drink it.

After you make it you should keep it in the refrigerator.

If you have sake kasu, the recipe is different from mine.

Here are the links to some recipes below.

#1

#2

#3

Enjoy homemade Amazake!!