Active Explorations
Background
Amazake (甘酒) is a traditional japanese beverage typically made from rice and rice koji. Rice is cooked, cooled, and then mixed with equal parts of koji, by weight, and water. The koji enzymatically breaks down the carbohydrates – i.e. the starches in the rice – into sugars. The result is a sweet, non-alcoholical liquid that has no exogenous forms of sugar. The amazake can then be modified – strained, clarified, blended, etc… – and added as the base of an ice cream, incporated into a dressing, cooked down into caramel, or used to make a vinegar.
We’re exploring a few possiblities with amazake
- What substrates, other than rice, rice koji, and water can we use?
- What waste products can be upcycled through amazake?
- Can amazake be used in secondary or tertiary fermentations?
- What larder items can be developed with amazake?
Why does amazake, and amazake-variants, excite us?
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Amazake is a natural, and generally healthier, sweetening agent. In the United States, we rely heavily on refined cane sugar (or beet sugar), a pure white and heavily processeced form of mostly sucrose. The sugarcane is mostly grown in the southern US, trucked to various east coast refineries, and then shipped again globally. Amazake has a more diverse nutrient profile with several types of B vitamins, is easier to digest, has low glycemic induex (which minimizes bood sugar spikes) and probiotically contributes to gut health.
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Amazake can be made with most starchy ingredients. Grains, which are critical to small-medium sized regenerative farms in the Northeast, like Rye, Spelt and Einkorn are excellent candidates for Amazake. Early tests suggest that Amazake-ing these grains can develop more complex and compelling flavor profiles, like citrus and caramel. Other starchy ingredients, from potatoes to beets, can also be used. Amazake offers the possiblity of naturally developing, through koji-fermentation, sweet food-stuffs from ingredients that grow abundantly here.
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Amazake can be incredibly delicious and interesting. Blend strained amazake with poached rhubarb and you have a delicious drink that is akin to a drinkable yogurt. Toast rye berries, combine with rye koji, fermented, and then reduce down, and the outcome is a warm and dulce de leche like caramel that is made from just a sginel grain – no dairy, no sugar.
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Amazake is relatively easy to make and replicate at home. Amazake is typically made from just two ingredients – rice and koji – and requires no special equipment. In most of our amazake experiments, we use a dehydrator set to 135°F-140°F to produce in Amazake in 12 to 16 hours. Without a dehydrator, an amazake can still be made at room temperature over several days.
Future Explorations
Ideas: charred amazake, amazkae caramel
