Ahhh Amazake! It's sweet, it's delicious and its quite easy! Amazake can be translated as Sweet Sake, though thanks to an accelerated fermenting timeline this sake will not be alcoholic. This Japanese treat has been consumed in Japan for centuries and now you can make a batch right in your dehydrator!
But wait. What exactly is it? Well, it's nothing more than rice that has been inoculated with koji spores (Aspergillus Oryzae). The mold spores convert the starches from the rice into simple sugars, and depending on how much water you introduce after fermentation, you'll have yourself a delicious treat with a custard or milkshake like consistency.
Let's get started! You'll Need:
Allow the rice to cool to approximately 130°-140°. Mix in the Koji Rice Culture into the cooked rice and mix well. Sanitize and Warm the glass jar by filling with boiling water. Empty out the water and fill the jar 2/3 full with the rice mixture. Top with water to just above the rice.
Place the jar in your Raw Rutes Dehydrator for 8 hours with the temperature set to 130°. This is your incubator. You're going to be hatching something delicious! After 8 hours start sampling the rice. It should be sweet and pleasant tasting. If not, continue to incubate for another 2-4 hours or until the desired level of sweetness is reached.
Now. If you like, add up to two cups of water to the mixture until the desired consistency for consumption is reached. You can also add any flavorings like vanilla, nutmeg or whatever you like. An optional but delicious step is to pulse-blend the mixture in a blender to a rice pudding like appearance.
Consume it fresh. If you want to store it for a few days in the fridge, you'll need to first bring the mixture just to a boil and then cool it. Otherwise the fermentation process will slowly turn the sugars into alcohol. Yes. Sake. Well, sort of.
Enjoy!
