Japanese Faves: Making Shio Koji, Shoyu Koji, & Amazake

[@sherri-harding]

I giggle when you say amakaze, instead of amazake...😆 2nd time here, and reviewing. I'm having so much fun. Thank you for sharing!

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

Yes, the mistakes are embarrassing, but thanks for your support.

[@sherri-harding]

@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick not mistakes...just verbal gymnastics that add flavor..

[@leftybrew]

Very nice thanks...for share the vid loved the jar...

[@sherri-harding]

Just getting started with Japanese cuisines....i love the care that goes into it. Its sacred...❤ great video, thanks!

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

Thanks. I hope you enjoy my Japanese Faves series.

[@Mryodamiles]

This is fantastic! Your channel is so insightful!

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

Thanks so much. Please tell your friends.

[@dougsensei]

Great video. I love you have brought all the Koji sauces together into one and how you used an immersion circulator to keep temp. As these dishes are made from fermentation, is it possible to continue this process by adding more rice/ water etc? or do you have to buy new Koji every time?

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

Great question. I’ve never tried it. I suspect it won’t work because the proportion of koji to rice may mean that all of the available koji enzymes are used in converting the rice to sugar. But it’s worth a try.

[@umanaik2667]

Excellent info

[@pixpusher]

Amazake can also easily be made in a yogurt maker overnight.

[@angryoldman9140]

But yogurt makers temp only goes between 105-115. Amazake needs 130, so it seems the fermentation wouldn’t be strong enough.

[@lululu5815]

can you teach how to use amazake make dough starter. thank you

[@hong_kitchen]

Thanks for sharing. I just start researching rice koji😊

[@andyBryFilms]

Whats the temp for the warmed soy sauce, when making the shoyu? Great video, thanks.

[@annielai3527]

Put salt and rice Koji into the bottle and close the lid and shake the bottle Open the bottle and add warm water into the bottle and stir to mix everything instead of using hands ….. no mess

[@jonlilley2832]

AmaZake, Sir!

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

Yes, I know. 🙁 I realized the mistake at the time I made the video but couldn’t start over. Apologies for the flub.

[@Edelwiess1066]

This is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for this Invaluable knowledge ! This needs to be shared far and wide! I did my part. Thanks again

[@codeaccount2434]

is the rice that you used is already processed and shou brown liquid you added seems like it was already processed, so we still have to buy stuff from the store we cannot make it all at home.

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

You need the ingredients in the notes. The only unusual one is koji rice and I provide sources.

[@burningstrawman2589]

What do you think this is, Little House on the Prarie?

[@codeaccount2434]

@@burningstrawman2589 it needs the wisdom to understand, not sure how much you have.

[@Habibie-vi4fv]

Thank you for a nice tutorial video on how to make amazake, shio/shoyu koji. For making shio/shoyu koji, (1) Would it be wise to let it ferment at a much higher temperature, i.e. 140°F, like most YT video tutorials suggest? (2) Don't you think it would be much more simpler, more convenient, less messy, and also more intelligent to first pulverize the rice koji and pour it into a jar container before introducing the liquid?

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

Interesting. I have never watched any other YT lessons on making Shio koji or Shoyu koji but it seems that if you use a higher temp you may pasteurize the mixture, which may affect the quality of the outcome. But I could be wrong. You could pulverize the koji but that is an extra step and I like the porridge-like consistency of the end result of using whole koji rice. But there are no rules. Thanks for your comment.

[@Habibie-vi4fv]

@@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick Thank you, thank you, and thank you. A few months back, I built me a very inexpensive makeshift incubator (just for testing purposes) with a W9005 egg incubator digital humidity/temperature controller, a small wattage of CFL light bulb, and a used small shipping carton box. I wanted to see if this simple incubator has enough power to ferment cassava, glutenous rice, and soybeans to make tapeh singkong, tapeh ketan, and tempeh (as well as natto), respectively. The controller has no problem to maintain both the humidity and temperature up to 40°C. However, I had to stop it right there mainly because I was afraid it will start to burn if I let it go higher to 60°C. This really disappointed because I couldn't no longer use this inexpensive incubator to make amazake and/or shio koji. After watching your video, I now know it is possible to make amazake, shio/shoyu koji at a much lower temperature. I am back in the game. This time, I will make a more permanent incubator layered with a construction styrofoam whose one side is layered with an aluminum foil. Again, thank you for the video. Cheers.

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

@@Habibie-vi4fv Wow! Your fermentation interest and efforts are amazing. Can you tell me where you bought your temp/humidity controller? I want to build an incubator to make shoyu, which requires maintaining a humid temperature of about 90F (about 32C). Because I live in a dry environment, maintaining humidity has been difficult. Also, please feel free to share the details and results of the your finished incubator.

[@Habibie-vi4fv]

@@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick Will be glad and more than happy to help. Sounded like you live in the State of Nevada where humidity is pretty low. Here in GA, humidity is just alright. I mostly bought my gadgets abroad in China from AliExpress. Some words of caution: The item in any AliExpress ads you order is NOT necessarily the same item you receive in your mailbox. For instance, you ordered a 10" Android tablet and they shipped you a cheap ring or perhaps they really shipped you a 10" tablet, but with different specifications. You really need to know what you are going to buy before you place your order. Otherwise, you will really need to convince AliExpress with some solid proofs to give you a full refund in your dispute case. In any case, my makeshift incubator was for testing purposes made with a shipping carton box (fire hazard) as seen here (www.4shared.com/s/f5ItCUiZjge). The video is about 1 minute length. In the video, you will notice I used a 110-220VAC version of the W9005 Programmable Egg Controller Incubator (www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804095869699.html) to control my heat source (a CFL light bulb) through its heating port. Although a W9005 can control both the humidity and/or temperature at the same time, I only setup this gadget to monitor and/or control the temperature through its temperature probe and/or its heating port, respectively. TBH with you, I strongly suggest that you stay away from this gadget, especially the store (in the link) where I bought the W9005 from. Not only they did not include the user manual in their shipment to me, they also sort of neglecting my request for the user manual and left me in an unchartered water for me to figure out how to program and/or operate this device. When I asked them how to completely reset the gadget, they ran me around. Because of these during my tests, I incidentally discovered a design flaw on this gadget. The gadget starts to intermittently send out ON/OFF power to its heating port when its temperature probe senses the temperature in the controlled chamber drops below the reference setting temperature. This rapid ON/OF behavior burnt out my CFL bulb less than 24 hours of operation. I showed this with a video clip to AliExpress and got a full refund sans returning the item. A few weeks had passed since I got my refund and I contacted several other sellers of a W9005 and one of them email me the user manual I requested. After reading the user manual, I noticed it clearly says that the heating port is supposed to flicker when its temperature probe detect the temperature controlled chamber drops below the reference setting value. Anyway, to make an already long story shorter, I concluded (after reading the user manual) this is a rather complicated gadget to use. I am sure you will be able to find more similar devices like W9005 where some are more or less expensive. Just use the AliExpress search engine to search for the item like this with a keyword "egg incubator" or something else. Be sure to enable the free shipping filter as well as shorting the list in low-to-high price. Originally, I ordered this XM-18 Probe Controller Incubator (www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832784013547.html) during their 11/11 big sale (like our black Friday sale) and somewhere/somehow the seller screwed up my order. AliExpress detected and immediately cancelled my order. Before I placed the order for this XM-18, I did some preliminary researches and found this device is way more superior than the W9005. Anyway, I recently bought me a simpler W3230 Probe Line 20A Digital Temperature Control (aliexpress.us/item/3256803731440818.html). It is ONLY a digital temperature control switch (no humidity control). If you peruse the ad, you will see a wiring diagram to show how to connect this device. I bought this inexpensive polarized extension cord (www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-10-ft-16-Gauge-2-Green-Braided-Extension-Cord-LTS-B2-A19/320258181) US $1.48 to wire this device. If you had an AliExpress account and have installed its application on your smartphone, there is a $1.99/item button on its menu where you can order each item for $1.99 + sales tax + Free shipping to any US cities. The catch is you need to place an order with a minimum of 3 items (a total of $5.97 + sales tax + free Shipping to any US cities). You should be able to find some simple USB humidifiers $1.99/each. These humidifiers comes with a soft ON/OFF switch and must be manually pressed to turn it on. If someone knows how to by pass this soft switch and let it always turn on once plugged into a USB port, this will be a great asset for us to use as the humidity source in an incubator chamber. Also, I just checked and this W3230 is still listed under this menu for the same price. Just picture this: A W3230 ($1.99) properly wired with an inexpensive polarized extension cord ($1.48 + some gas to pickup the item from your local HomeDepot store) - a total of $3.47 + sales tax - and use it as a secondary temperature probe or add this 25x30cm USB Heating Film (www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804667538193.html) $3.50 - a total of $5.49 + an unused smartphone charger + a used shipping carton box = a makeshift incubator? Regardless what you decide, here is something to take into consideration: These are very cheap (not necessarily inexpensive) items that we don't know their quality, i.e. no guarantee how long it will last, let alone its accuracy. I just want everyone has a cleary mind about items bought from some foreign countries. Here in the US, we have been spoiled with good quality of products bought from either online or local stores with great return policies, If you think I am missing something, please feel free to ask. Cheers.

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

@@Habibie-vi4fv Thanks so much for the detailed information!

[@Dr.insaf_muhammad]

يرجى الترجمة الى العربية

[@ladydamemarvelous-micynyc7265]

"it should be used or frozen w/in 6 months"? what do you mean. Use it up in 6 or freeze at 6 month?

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

I guess that wasn’t very clear. They keep a long time. If I don’t plan to use all I make within about 6 months, I freeze the rest until I’m ready to use it.

[@katrinafournier9554]

Once fermentation is complete, can you strain the rice out? I cannot ingest rice as it makes me sick..

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

I’ve never heard that anyone strains it, but I don’t see any reason that you can’t do it. But be careful, even if you strain out the undissolved rice, you will be leaving the rice that the koji dissolved.

[@angryoldman9140]

Don’t worry about the pronounciation. It was an honest mistake. Your knowledge is worth more than a little mistake such as that. People will always find something to complain about to undermine peoples abilities. GREAT video.

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

Thanks so much. Your comment means a lot.😀

[@tykillingbeck8974]

amakaze🤣

[@sherri-harding]

Sake😂

[@TheAnemarie]

amakaze, amakaze LOL

[@beetlebsr]

there is no reason to use your hands for mixing when you can use a whisk. unwanted bacteria growth must be avoided in fermented foods. hands are gross.

[@welnesslifestyleisthakeyto9749]

There is a reason,when the human are healthy as can be in modernity,skin's microbiome are healthy too and full of BENEFICIAL bacterial species,like Propionibacterium,Bacillus subtillis,Bifidobacterium of all kinds and colors,Hands are blessing ,more bare Hands work - more tasty,healthy,quality,tonifying Product, friendly Bacteria can participate a simbios with some species of Aspergillus

[@caroljanssen6539]

Dude! It's amazake! Ah mah zah keh. Please try not to butcher the japanese language. Thank you.

[@ChefsApprenticeJohnHornick]

You’re right, my Japanese is not great. ☹️ I think I said it the wrong way, then corrected myself. Sometimes I don’t realize I made a mistake until I edit the video, but it’s hard to fix at that point. I’ve made similar mistakes in other videos (example, “akami”), but I’m trying to get it right. I’m glad no one is paying for my poor pronunciation. 🤔

[@angryoldman9140]

Wow what a rude comment. I think you meant Athank you for the video, SIR. Learn to respect your elders!