Sake
Ingredients
- 1500g (3.3lb) rice,
- 400g (0.9lb) Kome-koji,
- 5g (0.18oz) citric acid
- Water.
- 5g (0.18oz) dry bread yeast. Or equivalent amount of Beer Ale yeast, Wine yeast or Wyeast Sake depending on you taste.
You will be able to get Kome-koji made from Koji or Koji-kin, a kind of white fungi, together with steam cooked rice at your grocery stores or homebrew stores. If you only can get Koji or Koji-kin, you can easily make your fresh Kome-koji together with steam cooked rice by yourself using your picnic ice box. Later will show you how to make Kome-koji.
Equipment:
Electric rice cooker (steam cooker is better). Basket to cut water. 10liters(2.6gal) enamel or stainless steel deep cooking pot with lid. (Equivalent plastic or glass container can be used.) Big spoon (stainless is better).
Procedure:
Wash and soak the 1500g(3.3lb) rice for about five hours and then put the rice in a basket for at least 20 min. to cut water.
Cook the rice with 1800ml(0.48gal)water using the rice cooker. Steam cooking is recommendable for better taste. I used a pressure cooker to steam cook rice using stainless steel basket suspended in it.
After cooking the rice, cool down the rice to 30deg C(86deg F).
Melt the citric acid with 2.4liter(0.5gal) water in the enamel cooking pot. Citric acid will prevent the contamination of bacteria and add slight sour taste to your Sake. Depending on your taste, you can reduce the Citric acid. Also you can use Lactic acid or you can use a Lemon or Lime juice.
Add 400g koji and well melt it by agitating with the big spoon.
In thirty minuets, add the cooled cooked rice and well mix by agitating with the big spoon. Pitch the yeast and place the lid on the pot and keep it at room temperature. Lower temperature will cause slower and longer fermentation and will result in better taste.
Stir it at least once a day. In two or three days you can enjoy very nice Sake aroma. Be careful about bacteria contamination. I used 70% ethyl alcohol spay around the pot and to myself every time. In two weeks fermentation will seem to end. 10.Filter the sludge using a sterilized basket or cheese cloth.
Enjoy the filtered Sake. Do not drink too much. Alcohol content is two to three times more than beer. Cooling the filtered Sake is the best way to taste. If you want crystal clear Sake,separate the further sludge by decanting. This will greatly reduce Sake yield.
Remaining sludge can be used to cook vegetable pickles in a refrigerator. A cucumber is the most suitable vegetable. Of course you can put white fish meat and then grill them. How to make Kome-koji from Koji or Koji-kin.
Wash and soak the 400g(0.9lb) rice for about five hours and then put the rice in a basket for at least 20 min. to cut water.
Steam cook the rice. Steam cooked rice looks slightly transparent, not white.
Cool down the cooked rice to 30deg C(86deg F). Put the rice into an enamel or stainless steel thin moistened cheese cloth or cotton cloth to prevent drying.
Put the container in a picnic ice box together with 35deg C(95deg F) warm water bottles to keep the inside at 30deg C(86deg F) for 40 hours. The amount of the warm water will preferably be a least 8 litters(2 gal). If necessary, change the warm water to keep the temperature constant. In 10 hours, mix again the mixture of the cooked rice and Koji using a cooking spatula. Already you can notice the whitened rice and get good aroma. I used a digital thermometer to measure the temperature inside. Very useful.
Further keep the mixture at 30deg C(86deg F) for 30 hours. 6.You can get white colored Kome-koji covered with white fungus.
OR TRY THIS
- 2.5 lbs rice
- .5 pt grape concentr. or 1 lb light raisins
- 7 pts water
- 2.5 lbs sugar or honey
- 3 tsp acid blend
- 3/4 tsp energizer
- 1 Campden, crush
- 1 pkg Sherry yeast
Use husked or raw rice. Wash and coarse crush rice. Place rice and chopped raisins in nylon straining bag, tie top, and place in primary. Pour hot water over and stir in all other ingredients EXCEPT yeast and energizer. Cover. After 48 hrs, add yeast and energizer. Cover primary. Stir daily, check SG and press pulp lightly. When ferment reaches SG 1.050 (2-3 days) add another 1/4 lb dissolved sugar /gallon.
At SG 1.030 (6-7 days) drain juice from bag. Siphon wine off sediment into glass secondary and attach airlock.
At SG 1.020 add another 1/4 lb dissolved sugar/gall. When ferment is complete (SG 1.000 or less) siphon off sediment into clean secondary and reattach airlock.
Siphon every 2 months to aid clearing. Optional: You may continue to build up alcohol by adding additional doses of sugar until ferment ceases. To sweeten, add before bottling: 1/2 tsp stabilizer and 1/4 lb dissolved sugar/gallon.
