Amasake, the japanese sweetner

It was a cloudy, cold day when i experiment how to make amasake. And I was sunk into the sofa busy with my book. The worlds were flowing under my eyes but nothing got in my mind. I needed to switch off with the study with some action. Since I had the ingredients sticking inside my cabinet from a while I decided to make the amasake. I went down to the kitchen I wear my apron. Took the ingredients from the cabinet. And started putting pieces back together organizing the recipe.

This is my style amasake, I mix 2 kinds of rice to cut down the costs...But sweet rice is quite different from common brown rice. Is plenty of proteins {the amino acid score is 71%} is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Manganese.

Amasake is quite Earth Transformation [sweet] but the cooking method is more Metal. And the fermentation makes it more about Tree. So is quite in the middle of a balance but because we usually use it in desserts I feel more right to place him in the Earth Transformation anyway.

{ingredients}

 1 cup brown rice

1 cup brown sweet rice

½ cup koji

6 cups spring water, plus 5 cups

Pick of unrefined sea salt

{technique} 

Boil the 2 cups of rice with the salt and 6 cups water, until cooked [50/60 min]. Set aside to cool down. When is cold enough to put a finger in the grain, add the koji and set aside in a warm place overnight or under the sun. At least 10 hrs. After that amasake should smell acid and sweet, if not leave to ferment much more.

Bring to boil again in a pressure cooker, with 5 cups of water, for 2 hour over a medium-low flame. Turn off the stove and leave the cooker to loose the pressure naturally. Then if you like to, add a vanilla pod. Leave on the stove until creamy if needed. Store in the fridge in a glass jar.

[if you like it smooth is possible to blend with a blender or mill amasake in a suribaci]