Sake Recipes
In addition to the single-step brewing process outlined in the home brewing section of this site, there are various other methods of brewing sake at home, along with recipes you may use with either your finished sake or with your kasu, the leftover sake lees.
Three-step Addition Method
Once you’ve mastered the single-step method and you want to produce a larger amount of sake, you should try the three-step method. The procedure is similar to the single-step method, but the amounts of ingredients are larger and the resulting sake more closely resembles factory-brewed sake.
Ingredients
12 cup rice
3 cup koji
14.5 cups water
1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon yeast
Equipment
3 gallon glass container preferred, plastic if glass is unavailable.
Starter
1.5 cups rice
1 cup water
1/2 cup koji
1 teaspoon citric acid
1 teaspoon yeast
Prepare ingredients as per the single step method. Store for 10 days, shaking or stirring daily.
1st Step
1.5 cups rice
.5 cups koji
3 cups water
Prepare your rice as per single-step method. Once cooled, mix with water and koji and set for 2 hours. Add to the starter mix. Stir or mix daily for 2 days.
2nd Step
3 cups rice
1 cup koji
4 cups water
Prepare ingredients as per the previous step. Add to your container, stir or shake. Store for one day.
3rd Step
5 cups rice
1 cup koji
6 cups water
Prepare as per other steps. Combine with previously mixed ingredients. Stir or shake daily until fermentation is complete, usually in 3 weeks. Separate solids from liquid as per single-step process. Enjoy.
Mirin
You can make mirin, a sweetened “sake” used for cooking. Traditional mirin is made using similar methods to this, which differ from mass produced mirin.
3 cups rice
1 cup koji
3 cups clear rum
Cook and cool the rice as per sake recipes. Combine with koji and rum, pour into bottle or jar, and allow to ferment for 5-6 weeks in a dark cool place, stirring or shaking weekly.
Filter as per sake recipe.
Sake Kasu Fish Marinade
Sake kasu makes for a great marinade for grilled fish. Mix sake lees with enough water to produce a substance similar in consistency to thin oatmeal. Fully coat or submerge fish fillets or steaks in this porridge for up to 5 days in a refrigerator. BBQ or broil fish once marinating is complete.