Bodai Moto-Zukuri Saké

Description

Bodai Moto-Zukuri is an ancient Japanese technique for making sake without any commercial yeast or pure-strain starters. Sandor Katz learned it from Masaru Terada, 24th-generation brewmaster at Terada Honke Brewery in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The wild yeasts and bacteria that live on raw rice drive the entire fermentation. The whole process takes about two weeks and requires nothing more than rice, water, a large vessel, and two mesh bags.

Instructions

1. Steam 500 g / 1 lb rice.
2. Fill mesh bags: transfer the steamed rice to one mesh bag and place the 500 g raw rice in the other bag.
3. Fill the vessel with 2 litres dechlorinated water and submerge both bags. The cooked rice will gradually decompose into the water, providing nutrients for the wild yeast and bacteria on the raw rice.
4. Gently massage the bag of cooked rice for a few minutes each day.
5. Taste every day. When the liquid is bubbly and just starting to taste a little sour (typically around 4 days), proceed to the next step.
6. Remove both bags from the water. Retain all liquid that drains from them.
7. Steam the soaked raw rice. Cool until warm but comfortable to the touch.
8. Mix the warm newly-steamed rice thoroughly with the 500 g koji and the original cooked rice that has been soaking.
9. Return the combined rice mixture to the liquid in the vessel.
10. Stir daily. Ferment for 10 days to 2 weeks, tasting periodically as the flavour develops.
11. Strain out the solids. Enjoy!

Notes

• Total time is roughly 2 weeks: ~4 days for the initial sour water stage, then 10–14 days for the main fermentation.
• Use dechlorinated water (leave tap water uncovered overnight, or use filtered water) — chlorine inhibits the wild fermentation.
• Koji can be made from scratch (see Sandor Katz's The Art of Fermentation) or purchased from a sake/miso supplier.
• The vessel needs to hold at least 6 litres / 1.5 gallons to avoid overflow during active fermentation.