Like wine and beer, sake requires yeast to start the fermentation process.
Sak is a rice wine first brewed in China around 4,800 B.C., later becoming the national beverage of Japan. This clear "drink of the gods" can be served heated or chilled and can be used to mix cocktails. Make your own sake at home by preparing a yeast starter called "moto." The moto creates lactic acid, giving sake the flavor it needs and causing yeast to thrive for the fermentation.
Instructions
Yeast Method
1. Mix in a medium-sized bowl, 6 1/2 ounces of steamed rice, 2 1/2 ounces of koji (Aspergillus oryzae) -- a fungus used to ferment soy sauce -- 9 ounces of chilled, chlorine-free water and 1 tsp. of low-temperature yeast.
2. Place the bowl and mixture into your refrigerator for 10 days at 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Stir the moto mixture twice daily and soon the texture will change to a porridge-like consistency, and then into a creamy soup. Notice how the surface of the mixture bubbles after three days.
4. Use the moto after 10 days to make 3 liters or 0.8 gallons of sake.
Yogurt Method
5. Mix 6 1/2 ounces each of rice, koji and water in a medium bowl. Use a food thermometer to ensure the water has a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Add 1 tsp. of natural yogurt to the mixture, which provides lactic acid.
7. Let the mixture cool down to a temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit. for the next 24 hours. Note how the mixture changes to the texture of porridge and bubbles slowly.
8. Allow the mixture to cool to normal room temperature of about 77 degrees Fahrenheit and add 1/2 tbsp. of low-temperature yeast.
9. Notice the cheesy odor disappear after six hours and a strong bubbling from the yeast by day three.
10. Use the moto by the end of day four to begin brewing your sake.
Baking Yeast Method
11. Place an amount of the rapid rise yeast the size of a dime into a small bowl.
12. Add brown sugar in 1/2 the size of a dime into the bowl with the yeast.
13. Add 1/2 tsp. of warm water into the yeast and brown sugar, stirring it using the edge of a spoon until it becomes all liquid.
14. Allow the yeast to rise and turn bubbly in a warm location, which takes about 20 minutes. (See Reference 3 pg 21 of 30)
15. Use this bubbly yeast in your cooked rice, koji and water mixture to start the brewing process.
Tags: degrees Fahrenheit, brown sugar, dime into, koji water, lactic acid