how do i make japanase saki?

home brewing of sake is relatively simple. There are very few ingredients necessary and you might have all the equipment already. Here's an overview of a very simple method by which you can produce quite drinkable sake in only 3 weeks.

Equipment required:

rice cooker, pot and steamer, or even a regular pot

glass quart canning jars

measuring cups

measuring spoons

cheesecloth

Ingredients:

rice (short grain japanese rice preferred)

koji

lemon or lime juice

yeast (beer or wine yeast preferred but baking yeast will do)

water

Per jar, you will use:

1 cup of rice (uncooked)

1/2 cup koji

1 1/2 cups water

teaspoon lemon or lime juice

1/2 teaspoon yeast

Begin the night before by soaking your rice, submerging it in a bowl of water for at least 8 hours. This is to ensure you have the proper moisture content in your rice, which will affect the flavor of the finished product. Once soaking is complete, you'll need to cook your rice. The best rice for sake will be steam cooked, but if you have to, you may use a rice cooker or your may cook it in a pot. Steaming your rice will leave the outside more solid, giving the fermentation process longer to complete which results in a better tasting sake. I use a steel pot insert like the one in the picture here.

Once your rice has cooled, separate it out into jars as evenly as possible. Make sure your jars are quite clean. The importance of cleanliness in home brewing of any kind cannot be stressed enough. Glass canning jars are great for this sort of brewing because instead of stirring daily, you're able to shake the closed jars, never opening them to outside contaminants until brewing is finished. Glass does not flavor the sake like plastic does, and the finished sake won't leave a plastic jar or pitcher forever smelling like sake.

Next add your 1/2 cup of koji per jar. The variety of koji I use I buy from Japanese markets in Portland, Oregon. It's enough to make about 8 jars of sake. It comes in a plastic bag inside a plastic tub, and should be kept in the refrigerator until it's used. Add your lime or lemon juice which acts as your citric acid in the brewing process, then add your yeast, and finally, water.

At this point you might consider using a paper towel with rubbing alcohol on it to clean off the rim area of the jar. This removes stray rice and contaminants from going rancid, which would affect the flavor of your sake. Place the lid, upside down, on your canning jar, and tighten the band. Now, shake your jar vigorously to completely mix the contents. I write the date on a piece of tape and place it on the top of the jar to remind me of when it was made. Place your finished jars in a cool dark place. Tighten the band on the jar and shake the jars daily, then slightly loosen the band again to allow gas exchange. You will notice the fermentation within a few days. Small bubbles will form inside the jar, rising to the top. After 2-3 weeks, the fermentation process will end. You'll know the brewing is complete when you no longer see any bubbles forming in the jars, and you'll notice the solids settling at the bottom of the jar.

Once the brewing is complete, you need to separate your sake from the lees, or solids, in the jars. I find it's best to use a cheesecloth, squeezing the solids firmly with clean hands to separate as much liquid from solid as possible. Keep your lees, they're a great marinade for fish. If you plan on using your sake within a month you can simply bottle it and place it in the refrigerator. If you're going to keep it longer than that, you need to pasteurize your sake by pouring it into a pot, then raising it's temperature to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60c) for about 10 minutes. Your finished sake will be an opaque white from stray lees. If you want your sake to be clear, leave it in the refrigerator for the solids to settle, like in the bottle in the picture here.

Serve your sake warmed by pouring it into a sake serving bottle placed in a pan of water. Your finished sake should have an alcohol conent of 15-20%. If your sake ends up a bit too strong for you, you might consider adding a teaspoon of sugar per serving bottle to cut the flavor if it's too harsh. Enjoy!