Sake
Description
The recipe won't take much time. The world-famous rice vodka from the Land of the Rising Sun is actually rice beer if you look closely at the preparation process. Interestingly, this drink is easy to make at home. Serve chilled.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Today it is not difficult to buy ready-made rice starter (koji) in a large supermarket, which ensures proper fermentation of sake and its high alcohol content (from 14 to 21 degrees, which is a record for beer). You will need 75 grams of koji.
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Step 2
Don't be discouraged if you can't buy ready-made koji rice. Make it yourself! Rinse 400 grams of rice until the water runs clear, then let it drain for 30–40 minutes in a sieve. Steam the rice, then cool it down to 30 degrees Celsius. Evenly sprinkle koji-kin spores over the rice using a fine metal sieve, and cover with a damp cotton cloth to prevent drying out. Leave for 15 hours. Properly prepared koji rice has a sharp cheesy smell and a pure white color. It can be frozen and used as needed.
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Step 3
When the rice koji is ready, steam 187.5 grams of rice, let it cool, and mix it with the rice koji, water, and yeast. Transfer to a sterile container, shake well, and refrigerate for 10 days. Shake every few days.
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Step 4
The resulting product is called moto—a sake starter. Proper moto will change its consistency over 10 days in the refrigerator, going from swollen rice to a porridge-like texture, and eventually to a creamy soup-like consistency. From the third day, bubbles should appear on the surface. The taste should change from slightly sweet to sour and slightly bitter. Only after these changes is the moto ready.
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Step 5
Day 1 - Prepare 375 grams of rice, mix with 450 ml of water, ALL of Moto starter culture, and 150 grams of koji in a sterile container. Keep at 10-15°C for 15 hours. Stir. The rice will have fully absorbed the water. Day 2 - Stir the future sake twice. Day 3 - Add another 750 grams of steamed rice, 225 grams of koji, and 1170 ml of water. Mix well. After 10 hours, stir again, then stir every few hours to help the yeast produce alcohol. Day 4 - Add another 1125 grams of steamed rice, 335 grams of koji, and 2250 ml of water. Mix well. Repeat the stirring procedure from day 3. Days 5-7 - Even at 10-15°C, the sake ferments actively. Day 8 - Fermentation begins to slow down; the taste becomes distinctly acidic and bitter, and the consistency turns soup-puree-like. Day 10 - Yeast becomes active again. Alcohol strength reaches 15%. Experts "listen" to the sake on this day. Day 14 - Alcohol strength is now 17.5%. Yeast activity decreases. Day 16 - Alcohol strength reaches 18.5%. Yeast activity nearly stops. Day 20 - Alcohol strength is at least 19-20%. Yeast is inactive. It's time to filter the beverage through cloth or nylon.
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Step 6
If you plan to drink the sake immediately, pour it into sterile containers and store it in the refrigerator. If you'd like to make aged sake, which is traditionally matured for a year before bottling into signature bottles, then it needs to be pasteurized—heat the drink at 55–60 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes. The color and character of the drink will change slightly—this is a good sign. It means you're doing everything right.
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Step 7
The sophisticated, exquisite drink is ready. You can now impress your friends and enjoy the taste of Japan.