Genmai Amakoji – (fermented brown rice with komekoji)
- Yield: 2.5 cups 1x
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 200 ml water (at about 65 degrees C (149 F))
- 200 grams komekouji (*uncooked rice inoculated with kouji mold)
- 200 grams cooked brown rice (*alternatively, any other type of rice)
Instructions
- First step is to weigh out your ingredients so that you have the correct ratio and rate of fermentation.
- Add the warm water to the cooked rice and stir to break up clumps.
- Add the komekouji to the cooked rice water mixture and gently mix until evenly distributed.
- Add this mixture to your yogurt maker (or rice maker with the lid open) and allow to ferment for a minimum of 12 hours mixing 2-3 times at even intervals to ensure even fermentation.**
- Dilute the amakouji 1-1 with water to make amazake (sweet sake), or use in place of any other sweetener for a sweet and slightly fermented layer of flavor.
Notes
- ** While fermenting it’s important that you maintain the temperature at 55- 60 degrees C max
(131-140F). Too cool and it won’t ferment properly, too hot and you’ll kill the kouji and it won’t
ferment at all. - You can use different types of rice which will result in different flavors and aromas. For example, jasmine rice, basmati rice, or even a bowl of mixed grain rice (zakkokumai) which has grains mixed in! All of these variations will result in a slightly different flavor and character of amakouji which will help things keep interesting throughout the year.
- Use a thermometer to check the temperatures for the water, cooked rice, and yogurt maker/rice
maker if using. - The longer you let the amakouji ferment, the sweeter it will get.
- You can taste the amakouji at around the 12-hour mark to see how far along it is, if it’s your first time, I’d recommend fermenting at least 2-4 hours past (14-16 hours total) so that you don’t end up with any funky flavors and a very sweet amakouji.
- Although it is fermented, you should use or freeze it within a week. Beyond that, you may notice liquid starts to separate and/or may grow mold.