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Amazake (sweet koji rice drink)
Rice and koji kept warm overnight into a naturally sweet, alcohol-free hot drink
On New Year's Day, crowds queuing for hatsumōde, the first shrine visit of the year, warm their hands on cups of amazake, and shrines all over Japan ladle it out as a welcome. This is the koji kind: cooked rice is held warm with rice koji, whose enzymes turn the starch into sugar, so the drink is sweet with no added sugar and contains no alcohol (unlike the other amazake made from sake lees). It is thick, creamy and gently fragrant, a little like rice pudding you can drink. Serve it hot with a pinch of grated ginger, or chilled in summer. Chef's tip: a cheap probe thermometer is the whole secret; keep the mixture at 55–60 °C and it will turn sweet every time.
- Total time
- 480 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 5 ½ oz Japanese short-grain ricerinsed until the water runs almost clear
- 2 ½ cups water
- ¾ cup hot waterboiled and cooled to about 70 °C
- 7 oz dried rice kojicrumbled into separate grains
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp fresh ginger (optional)finely grated, to serve
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Simmer 5 ½ oz Japanese short-grain rice with 2 ½ cups water in a covered pan over low heat for 25–30 minutes, stirring now and then, until it is a soft, loose porridge.
28 minStep 2: Take the pan off the heat and stir in ¾ cup hot water to cool it down. Check with a thermometer: wait until the porridge is at 140°F before going on.
5 minStep 3: Stir in 7 oz dried rice koji until evenly mixed. Common mistake: adding koji to porridge hotter than 140°F, which kills the enzymes so the drink never sweetens.
2 minStep 4: Keep the mixture at 55–140°F for 6–8 hours: use a rice cooker on 'keep warm' with the lid open and a tea towel over it, a yogurt maker, or a thermos jug. Stir and check the temperature every hour; below 122°F it can turn sour, above 140°F it stops sweetening.
420 minStep 5: It is ready when it tastes clearly sweet and the koji grains have softened and turned translucent. Stir in 1 pinch salt to round out the sweetness.
2 minStep 6: For a smooth drink, blend until creamy. To serve, dilute with about the same amount of water, heat gently until steaming (don't boil) and top each cup with 1 tsp fresh ginger.
5 minStep 7: Cool quickly and keep the concentrate in a closed jar in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it in portions.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does amazake (sweet koji rice drink) take?
- About 480 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 460 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of japanese short-grain rice?
- Any long-grain rice, same amount.
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