Homemade amazake and Yugi’s amazake recipe suggestions
Recipe for homemade amazake
Ingredients (easy-to-prepare quantity)
Rice…1 cup
Koji…200grams
Water…750mL
Directions
1.Wash the rice well and let it soak for at least 30 minutes. Add the water and rice to a pot and make it into rice porridge.
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2.Thoroughly break up the koji with your hands, add it to the somewhat cooled rice porridge, and mix everything well.
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3.Transfer the mixture to a rice cooker, place a weight on the lid, and leave to ferment for around eight hours while keeping it warm, making sure to leave a gap between the cooker and the lid with a chopstick or something similar.
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4.The amazake is now complete. Yugi recommends mixing it with a mixer or blender and using it as a paste.
【POINT】
■Adjust the amount of water to your liking. If you prefer a thinner consistency, make the rice porridge with a bit more water.
■Use the rice cooker with the keep warm function on. Do not use the cook function. If the temperatures get too high, they will kill off the koji bacteria. This is why you should leave a gap while letting it ferment.
■Ideally, you want the mixture to ferment at around 60°C. Some rice cookers, however, will run hotter even if a gap is left, which may shorten the fermentation time. Check the taste at around the six-hour mark. If it has a faint koji smell and tastes sweet, it is done.
■You can store amazake in the refrigerator for around one week to 10 days. The fermentation will continue to progress bit by bit and the flavor will change.
■You can also make it in a yogurt maker.
Recipe for canola flower salad dressed with tofu, sesame, white miso, and amazake
Ingredients (two-person serving)
Canola flowers…Half a bunch
[A]
Momen (firm) tofu…Quarter of a block
Ground sesame seeds…One tablespoon
Amazake…Two tablespoons
White miso…One tablespoon
Light soy sauce…1/2 teaspoon
Directions
1.Boil the canola flowers in salted boiling water. Once boiled, drain and cool them quickly by fanning them, and cut into bite-sized lengths.
2. Wrap the tofu in paper towels and weigh them down to press out the moisture. Once drained, place the tofu in a bowl, mash it with a spatula, and finally use a whisk to smooth it to the desired consistency.
3. Take all the ingredients from list [A] and place them in the bowl from Step 2 and mix well. Once mixed, pour the dressing over the canola flowers and toss everything together.
Recipe for a grilled vegetable and bacon salad with an amazake sauce dressing
Ingredients (two-person serving)
Asparagus…Two stalks
Red and yellow bell peppers…1/8 of each
Zucchini…1/3
Radish…Two
Chicory and watercress…To taste
Bacon…Two slices
Olive oil and black pepper…A little of each as needed
[Amazake sauce]
Amazake paste…Two tablespoons
Extra virgin olive oil…Two tablespoons
Lemon juice…One tablespoon
Salt…1/2 teaspoon
Directions
1. For the asparagus, remove the tough skin at the base with a peeler, cut in half, and then cut in half lengthwise. Cut the bell peppers into long, easy-to-eat strips, and slice the zucchini into round pieces. Cut the radishes and their leaves in half lengthwise. Cut the bacon into pieces two to three centimeters wide.
2. Heat the olive oil in a frypan and grill the vegetables and bacon until they are nicely browned.
3. Arrange the vegetables from Step 2 on a plate with the chicory and watercress and grind some black pepper on top. Dress with the amazake sauce and serve.
[Amazake sauce]
Place all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Recipe for yellowtail simmered in soy sauce
Ingredients (two-person serving)
Yellowtail (fillets)…Two fillets
Ginger…One slice
Myoga ginger…One bud
[A]
Amazake paste…Three tablespoons
Soy sauce…Three tablespoons
Saké…Six tablespoons (90 mL)
Ginger…One slice
Directions
1. Wipe the yellowtail well to remove any moisture. Peel the ginger and cut into thin pieces. Cut the myoga ginger in half lengthwise and then cut it diagonally into thin pieces. For the ginger in list [A], cut into thin pieces with the skin on.
2. Add all the ingredients from list [A] to a pot, bring to a boil, and then add the yellowtail. Once it boils again, turn the heat to low and simmer for about eight minutes while basting the fish with a spoon.
3. Arrange the fish on a plate and pour a little of the cooking broth on top. Garnish with the ginger and myoga ginger strips.
Recipe for amazake French toast
Ingredients (two-person serving)
Four-slice loaf of soft white bread…Two slices
Butter…Soybean fl10 grams
Soybean flour and brown sugar syrup…To taste
[A]
Amazake paste…100 mL
Medium-sized egg…One
Directions
1. Put the ingredients from list [A] in a mixing bowl and mix well. Add the bread and coat with the mixture, using a spatula to spread the coating evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight.
2. Melt the butter in a frypan and cook the bread from Step 1 over a low to medium heat, browning both sides.
3. Serve on a plate, sprinkle with soybean flour and pour brown sugar syrup on top.
▶Shio Koji, Salted Koji & Japanese Food with a Koji-ya
