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Koji Amazake: A Sweet Fermented Beverage

Amazake is a sweet beverage made from fermented rice. It is typically served as a warm drink flavored with fresh ginger. But it can also be used as a natural sweetener or a vegan dairy alternative. 

Homemade Amazake -Japanese fermented sweet rice drink

Naturally sweet

Amazake’s sweetness naturally arises from the breakdown of the complex carbohydrates in rice to simple sugars through koji fermentation. 

The fermentation improves the nutritional value of rice, containing a number of vitamins and minerals. And like many fermented foods, it is good for gut health and digestion.

How to Use Amazake

Homemade amazake has a sweet and toasty flavor. It is very versatile and can be used both as a beverage or for baking. Here are a few ways to use your koji amazake:

1. Warming Beverage

It is delicious served as a warm beverage. For a traditional Japanese spiced warm beverage:

  1. Mix 1 part amazake with 1 part boiling water.
  2. Taste, and add more water if necessary.
  3. Served with a pinch of grated fresh ginger. (I also like to add a pinch of ground cinnamon).

2. Vegan Milk Substitute

Homemade amazake is a rich and delicious substitute for milk. It can be used for both hot and cold beverages or poured over a bowl of cereal.

To turn the rice paste into a vegan milk substitute, mix 1 part amazake with 2 parts water. Taste, and add more water, to taste.

3. For baking

Use it as a milk substitute in baking. Since it is naturally sweet, you can reduce the amount of sugar used in the recipe, or skip it altogether! (I’m pretty big into sugar-free baking!)

4. Desserts!

Naturally sweet, it is perfect for dessert.

  • To make your own fermented rice pudding, follow my quinoa pudding recipe, using amazake instead! It’s delicious with vanilla, chocolate, or butterscotch flavors!
  • Make a vegan chocolate banana ice cream, using amazake instead of coconut milk!
Print

Homemade Amazake

Homemade amazake is a delicious and sweet drink made from koji kin
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

Amazake is a sweet toasty beverage made from fermented rice. It is delicious, served warm with fresh ginger, or used as a vegan dairy substitute. See the sections above for 4 different serving options.

  • Author: Emillie
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 cups 1x
  • Category: Beverages
  • Method: Fermented
  • Cuisine: Japanese
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1/2 cup rice (white or brown)
  • 1 1/2 cups of water (for cooking
  • 1/2 cup koji rice
  • 1/2 cup water (chlorine-free, enough to cover)

Instructions

  1. Rinse the rice thoroughly before cooking to wash away the starch.
  2. Bring the rice and water to a boil.
  3. Reduce the heat and simmer, until soft. Immediately drain off the excess water.
  4. Allow the rice to cool to around 130 F (60 C).
  5. Mix in koji rice. Then pack the rice mixture into a glass jar for fermentation.
  6. Cover with water (about 1/2 cup, as needed), then cap with a lid to keep the moisture in while fermenting. It is anaerobic and doesn’t release CO2 like other ferments, so you don’t need to worry about using a fermentation-specific lid.
  7. Incubate at 130 F (60 C) for up to 16 hours. See notes for advice on how to incubate.
  8. After fermenting, puree into a smooth paste. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. It should last for 1 month in the fridge. Otherwise, freeze for long-term storage.
  9. To turn amazake into a beverage, mix 1 part rice paste with 1 part of water. See the section above for 4 serving options.

Notes

  • This is quite a hot ferment, compared to yogurt and tempeh. The easiest way to maintain the right temperature is to use a rice cooker or a slow cooker set on warm.
  • If you really get into fermenting, I recommend a Brød & Taylor Slow Cooker which I use for most of my ferments.

Keywords: vegan, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, milk, probiotic, breakfast, baking, fall, winter

Filed Under: Probiotic Beverages, Specialty Cultures, VeganTagged With: Japanese, Rice

Previous Post: « Salvadoran Fermented Curtido
Next Post: Salt-Brined Fermented Eggs »

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Comments

  1. Stephanie

    March 2, 2019 at 4:45 am

    Both types of rices are cooked correct?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      March 2, 2019 at 7:57 am

      No, the koji rice will already have been cooked before culturing with the koji kin. It might be somewhat dry, but still cooked. So only the white rice needs to be cooked.

      Reply
      • Patrick

        November 6, 2022 at 11:00 am

        So just to clarify it is 1/2 cup of the already cooked koji rice and then 1/2 cup of dry rice which needs to be cooked to yield an even larger amount of cooked rice. Right?

        Reply
        • Emillie Parrish

          November 7, 2022 at 10:45 am

          Yes… 1/2 cup of koji + 1/2 cup of dried rice (about 1 1/2 cups cooked). Cheers!

          Reply
  2. Robert

    July 25, 2019 at 4:22 pm

    Do you set the Brod & Taylor to slow cook mode and set temperature to 60 degress celcius? I have had two unsuccessful attempts at making amazake so far – ends of tasting sweet but somehow unpleasant. Quite different to the store bought amazeke we have tried.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      July 25, 2019 at 6:31 pm

      Sorry to hear that it didn’t work out for you. I can set my Brod & Taylor to exactly 60C, so that’s what I use.

      I’ve actually never tried store-bought amazake. I wonder if they sweeten it? I like it with ginger or cinnamon. Otherwise it just has a rice-like flavour. My other suggestion is to shorten the ferment to perhaps 8-12 hours? Hope that works!

      Reply
  3. Sylvia

    September 6, 2019 at 10:46 pm

    your blog is quite appealing to me. Easy and straight forward explained.
    Looking forward to try some of your Japanese fermentation recipes.
    Many thanks
    Sylvia

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 8, 2019 at 8:24 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  4. Philip Giesbertz

    September 17, 2019 at 8:36 pm

    Hi, does it ferment naturally or do you need to add a microbial strain?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      September 18, 2019 at 9:15 am

      The culture comes from the koji rice, which has been inoculated with koji kin (a mold culture.)

      Reply
  5. Davis

    March 21, 2020 at 8:15 pm

    Simple to prepare plus healthy…

    Reply
  6. Marybeth Sullivan

    November 5, 2020 at 4:14 pm

    Can an instant pot be used? Yogurt setting is probably only 90 F. Anyone used an instant pot to make the recipe!?

    Reply
    • Emillie

      November 6, 2020 at 10:52 am

      Sorry, I don’t have an instapot. However, it probably will work. Koji ferments tend to heat up as they ferment. If you try it let me know how it goes so I can share. Thanks!

      Reply
  7. Anonymous

    December 7, 2020 at 9:39 am

    Is the fermented rice counted as the same amount of carbs or does it not count as the fermented is assimilated differently in your body like fermented vegetables? I am new to this ferment thing, leaky gut pushing me into it and I’m actually kinda excited. But still working on understanding how it performs differently than regular carbs.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      December 7, 2020 at 10:58 am

      Welcome to fermenting! Fermenting grains (like rice) does breakdown the carbs. So they will be lower in carbs than regular grains… however, not sufficiently low in carbs to be considered “low carb”. And the amount of carbs depends on the type of ferment and how long it is fermented.

      I pretty much always ferment grains. I’m GF and it improves the flavour, texture and digestibility. Amazake is quite sweet. The mold breaks down the complex carbs, giving it a sweet flavour. Be well, Emillie

      Reply
  8. James Ireland Baker

    April 5, 2021 at 8:19 am

    I tried this with the bread proofer yesterday and woke up to two quarts of fresh amazake. Had it with turmeric, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and it was so good I drank a whole quart. 🙂 It also paired really well with French Roast coffee. Just for the hell of it, I used your recipe to ferment a super-grain porridge I made with amaranth, barley, oats, millet, and bulgar, which also turned out great. I imagine just oats would be great, as well–a new take on oatmeal. Thanks for your blog–it’s fantastic.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      April 6, 2021 at 9:10 am

      Wow, that sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  9. Felix

    August 24, 2021 at 4:11 pm

    I hadn’t thought about it before, but using homemade amazake as a dairy substitute in baked goods is a great idea! One thing though: the temperatures used to bake would probably kill bacteria in the ferment, so any probiotic benefit would be lost.

    Reply
    • Emillie

      August 25, 2021 at 10:13 am

      You are right, like sourdough bread, using amazake for baking means that it will no longer be probiotic. However, it is delicious!

      Reply
  10. Julia Tausch

    March 15, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    Hi there, thanks for this post! I am making Amazake right now and am finding that I can only put my brod and Taylor up to 60 C in the slow cooker mode…should I use the rack still or put my jar right on the element? What do you do? Thanks so much again!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Emillie

      March 16, 2022 at 9:19 am

      I use the rack, otherwise the bottom of the jar (in contact with the heating plate) will be too hot. Enjoy!

      Reply
      • Julia

        March 17, 2022 at 11:56 am

        Okay thank you! So you put it to slow cooker mode, set it to 60, and use the rack? Or do you have the older model that doesn’t differentiate between proofer and slow cooker modes? Thanks so much again!

        Reply
  11. Carissa

    October 7, 2022 at 7:48 pm

    Loving your blog.
    Is there a way to continue the fermenting so I don’t have to keep buying Koji?

    Reply
    • Emillie Parrish

      October 8, 2022 at 7:07 am

      I have a recipe for making koji rice again. I haven’t tried using amazake to make more amazake, but it could work. I’ll add it to my to-do list! Cheers, Emillie

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Emillie, an island-dwelling fermentation enthusiast. Fermenting For Foodies features healthy recipes designed to feed your microbiome.
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