Koji-Rubbed Steak - "Dry Aging" Steak with Koji Rice Test

Learn how to make a Koji-Rubbed Steak! Visit foodwishes.blog... for the ingredients, more information, and many, many more video recipes. I hope you enjoy this "Dry Aging" Steak with Koji Rice Test!

[@foodwishes]

Check out the recipe: www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/247092/Koji-Rubbed-Steak/

[@PockASqueeno]

Chef John, I love the honesty and down-to-earth-ness that you put in all your videos. When you do experiments like this, you tell it just like it is and don't try to make it sound better than it actually is just to make yourself seem like a better chef. I really respect that. Don't ever change.

[@adammacleod925]

Chef John, I have to say. Ever since the first day we met, you've always been your wonderful, charming self. You always deliver and I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into this relationship. It's like instead of sprinkling wonderful pixie dust all over KZbin, you sprinkle magical Cayenne Pepper. Then something started happening, Chef John. I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. Sure, you could try to deny it, we could pretend it's not happening for a while. The fact remains that you've just tossed our beautiful Cayenne aside like some common street trash, and I can't put up with it anymore. I don't want to get the unsubscription papers from the lawyer, John, but I swear I will do whatever I need to do to protect Cayenne from you. I'm just starting to forget the Chef I once knew, and it's killing me inside.

[@vietrofl]

Lol

[@karstend542]

Made my day!

[@DinasKitchen]

+Adam MacLeod Hahah :D

[@W00NKII]

Hahhaahaha best

[@aphyaster2931]

***** Chef John puts cayenne on anything and everything. It's his favorite spice. It's the reason his channel exists (probably). So his fans are always horrified when he doesn't use it.

[@knowledgeking2155]

Chef John, I have been watching you channel for almost a year now I and I want to take a movement to thank you for this channel because you were one of the key reasons I started cooking. Thank you so much.

[@willynilly91]

I appreciate that you were honest about this. As opposed to boasting "This tasted absolutely perfect!"

[@rbettsx]

This episode is a perfect illustration of one of the ways you are NOT like a load of the other all-about-them, not-about-the-food cookery presenters, whose recipes are ALWAYS perfect, and ALWAYS the best thing you ever ate. Love ya for it. Soooo tempted to name some of them, but I'm too polite. Keep it real.

[@grapsta]

+Robin Betts name em !!!!

[@TonyVisciardi]

Byron Talbot?

[@INUMIMI28]

I'm from Japan and I'm afraid that's not the right way to prepare the koji. The real way to prepare koji is, you have to mix it with water and turn it to paste to activate the koji, just like you do with dry yeast. If you want to tenderize the meat with koji, first, make a koji paste second, marinate the meat with koji third, zip lock it in the fridge over night

[@atakkuuuuu]

+INUMIMI28 I thought so! As much as I respect Chef John for his western dishes, I feel like sometimes he doesn't do enough research with the other ethnic foods. I remembered that koji was always prepared as a paste (learned from watching the anime moyashimon) so watching this made me scratch my head a few times. Oh well... he probably knows his mistake now.

[@INUMIMI28]

+atakkuuuuu Also, it requires 2~3 weeks to fully activate the Koji before using, and don't forget 3 tablespoon of salt to boost up the fermentation

[@juicysteak117]

+atakkuuuuu Well it sounded like from the video that he was following the article he read basically to the letter, so I don't blame him.

[@jek9911]

+INUMIMI28 My wife buys koji paste from a Japanese store near us. She mainly uses it for fish but said it will work for steaks. Thicker for longer.

[@INUMIMI28]

jek9911 I'm very happy to hear that, not only koji makes food tastes better, it's very good for you as well

[@MrSalamifreak]

Chef John = best just thank you for everything. You are my hero

[@intramotus]

Chef John puts love and wit and humor and passion into everything, not just cayenne. He's the man !

[@martinmatamoros3893]

You should have had a fresh steak and a 3 day non-koji'd steak from the same cow to compare the taste, etc. to the koji treated one.

[@foodwishes]

+Martin Matamoros Sorry, but that makes too much sense.

[@samwright2478]

+Food Wishes I like you, I like your style. :)

[@wingdingdmetrius8025]

+Food Wishes Hindsight is 20/20

[@simplynatalies]

+Food Wishes Hello great chef

[@poloniumfist6059]

+Martin Matamoros Was thinking that about 3 minutes in

[@Tishieism]

I watch your videos even if there are recipes I don't care for just because I end up learning something new and laughing a bit. You are a hilariously effective teacher, Chef John!

[@mollyrowland8665]

My boyfriend and I used to fall asleep to your videos. We love you!!

[@foodwishes]

+Molly Rowland I'm flattered. :)

[@theonlyari]

+Food Wishes Man... you are getting beat up in the comments. :(

[@Synochra]

+Molly Rowland it's funny you'd say that, this video actually gave me the incentive to stop putting off sleep. The voice is very calming. You, Sir, should read bedtime stories on the radio. I mean that in a very good way. Your videos and their contents are also very well done.

[@noahrenschler7210]

+Molly Rowland i used to blow chunks on my desk then fall asleep to this guys videos

[@dvaoa]

+Molly Rowland Best/Worst compliment on the internet today.

[@Phyreflyte]

Not only do I love your videos, but I also love your voice. Sometimes after a stressful day I'll just turn your videos on to listen to the cheeriness.

[@bravocado]

I was just reading about this 2-3 nights ago too, so I was super-excited when I saw this video. I can't help but wonder if grinding the koji rice, and maybe adding salt to it, would have produced different results.

[@SpiritBear12]

I like how you give your honest opinion about something you tried out, even if it didn't work out the way you thought it might. I find that pretty refreshing in the food and general demonstration world. I watched some one else weeks ago do a dry aged steak wrapping it up in cheese cloth and changing it each day while it sat in the fridge for about 3 days. He said it turned out great.

[@patrickcarroll7185]

Chef John do you also voice the bear in "bear in the big blue house"?

[@paulwillhoft283]

Chef John, try using Shio Koji instead. This is a very easy recipe, just takes a little time. 1) Take 2 Tbsp of Shio Koji (A Japanese seasoning mixture of Koji, salt and water) and blitz with some black pepper, thyme and 3 cloves of garlic. Then rub the mixture on a couple of rib eye steaks and vacuum seal the steaks in bag. Pop the steaks into the fridge for two days. 2) Sous vide the steaks (shio koji and all) at 127.5 degrees (f) for three hours. 3) The remove the steaks from the vacuum seal bag, give the steaks a quick rinse and dry them off well. 3) Put the steaks on a rack and let them dry in the fridge for at least 12 hours. 4) Finish the steaks in a carbon steel (or cast iron) pan with butter, garlic and some fresh thyme. Just to sear them - no more than a minute of two on each side. These steaks were amazing. They were tender, and mouth wateringly delicious. My wife and daughter said it was the best sous vide recipe so far, and I have been using the sous vide for about 4 years now. I have to say though, the steaks did not have that funky dry aged flavor. It was different than that, an umami-beefy / grain-like flavor. Hmm, I don't know, maybe from the rice. Either way, it was an excellent steak. I highly recommend switching to shoi koji rather than using the dried rice version. Give it a try, you will see... because after all, you are the guru moji of your shoi koji! Peace Brother

[@Breathlless]

Going to try this with thinner meat

[@foodwishes]

+Breathlless That's what she said.

[@Tylermiller808]

+Food Wishes Godamn... this man is good.

[@santanalz]

+Food Wishes Ha!

[@simplynatalies]

+Breathlless HAHAHA

[@MrRyuTko]

+Breathlless peasant

[@Terinigan]

Should I be fortunate enough that you read this message, I would really like to know what your views are on cooking sous vide. I'd also very much like to know your thoughts on warm aging, "fishsauce aging" etc. Huge respect for you John, hands down best cooking channel on KZbin!

[@LifebyMikeG]

One of my closest friends, Jeremy Umanksy, invented this technique, so cool to see you doing it! Isn't it wild, i've been chatting with him about making a video on it. Check out TMGastronaut on instragram to learn about the proper way of doing it, the article you read ripped his technique and didn't get it exactly right. Keep up the awesome work, always great tips on your channel.

[@artartsen2898]

+Brothers Green Eats Maybe you could do a video trying this with *activated* koji?

[@krystuphor]

+Brothers Green Eats i love you guys

[@foodwishes]

+Brothers Green Eats Thanks, I'll check it out!

[@DonRecepcion]

+Brothers Green Eats _Gastronaut_... i love it!

[@Vacated204]

wow this is wild, that video you're talking about just came out! I saw this vid and I was like..."wait..." Love you guys both

[@kato0291]

Would love to see more experiments like this, Chef, even ones that are unsuccessful! I love your videos where things don't go as planned but you keep going and filming anyway. That experimental, improvisational side of cooking is I think one of the most valuable parts of being a good cook.

[@tomstestkitchen]

I tried this method John, didn't like it at all. I read the same article and followed it to a tee, including grinding the Koji to a powder. The steak didn't really have that dry aged flavor but all I could taste was a "cornstarchy" flavor. I even rinsed under cold water an patted dry. Maybe the way you coarsely ground it helped avoid the off-putting flavor of the powder. The best "quick aged" method I've found uses fish sauce, that was really good. That "funky flavor" you mention is probably umami, which fish sauce contains a lot of.

[@hawaiidispenser]

+Tom's Test Kitchen That powder residue probably also explains why the steak browned so easily -- it's partly the rice burning.

[@INUMIMI28]

+Tom's Test Kitchen I'm from Japan, and the proper method is, you have to mix it with water and turn it to paste to activate koji.

[@larrycrabs5995]

Chef John, you are so awesome. I wish you were my dad.

[@GarysBBQSupplies]

Hi Chef John. I tried a similar experiment with Chick, after 5 days we fried it up, salt no pepper. Really gave it a hue Umami flavor. Try giving it a few more days

[@billrogers9594]

So glad you made another video Chef....ALWAYS look forward to you're postings

[@bigpapi3636]

The chemistry is pretty cool. As I understand from speaking with tech "weenies" the Koji fungus exudes enzymes that cleave both protein bonds (peptides) and saccharide bonds. So the Koji enzymes presumably would break down both the amino acids and oligosaccharides found in meat. Time, temperature, humidity, pH, oxygen and concentration of the enzymes are probably dependent factors but the premise is probably valid that Koji will "age" a steak through enzymatic activity much as dry aging does. I think it's worth a try! Thanks for the informative video.

[@YingYangHumor]

Hey Chef John, I know this is an older video but I just wanted to tell you: I have tried this myself and I got much better results than what I assumed you have, I think the key is to really pulverize the koji, until it looks like salt. Then REALLY coat the steaks, Ideally throw the powdered koji in a ziplock bag with the steaks and shake it for a few minutes. I don't think it can absorb well at all with larger grains. I hope you have more success next time if you try this again!

[@noor-al-deenp8439]

Chef John I recently bought a whole slab of meat and tried to Koji for 5 days, scraped off the Koji, allowed the slab another 2 days in the refrigerator on a rack and divided the slab into inch and a half steak cuts and I think doing it this way produced something fairly darn close.

[@danagboi]

Chef John, you needed a 'control' steak for this experiment i.e.: a steak which had not been rubbed with koji but had been aged in the fridge uncovered alongside the other steaks and which was butchered from the same animal. The lack of tenderness may have just been the steak itself. Also, koji marinade is usually done with shio-koji, which is a salt/water/koji slurry which is fermented for a week or so. Also, no cayenne - experiment ruined.

[@LeanMeanLearningMachine]

Would it work the same with instant yeast?

[@Nexus2Eden]

I was going to say, possibly a less marbled cut - like a Mignon possibly? I think there would be much more liquid flesh to 'dry' out and the breakdown of proteins might occur faster with more thorough penetration. Fungi thrive on, and excrete enzymes, to decompose complex carbohydrates. They aren't as happy with lipids or sugars which is why you never find fungi in table sugar or honey. That is why they do so well on plant based materials. Bacteria are the ones that love eating sugars and fats - which is why I would think true dry aging works so well. The bacteria breakdown the proteins and sugars. But interesting - definitely.

[@shizzlebizzfizz]

I like your experimental cooking videos and would be awesome to see more

[@TheBrett1890]

WTF where is the damn CAYENNE PEPPER!?!?!?

[@KahlevN]

+Brett Colmer What kind of monster puts Cayenne pepper on a good steak? Maybe black pepper but Cayenne? You going to throw some A1 on it as well?

[@fUP420babe]

+KahlevN not A1, HP sauce! thats the way!

[@Mosfer_aldoseri]

+fUP420babe the way for a screwed up well-done steak

[@fUP420babe]

مسفر الدوسري which is what he had, totally past medium rare, shoulda made a pan souce with cognac and butter and marmite an chalots

[@justin522]

What temperature was your fridge set at? My results in the fridge looked nothing like that, but my fridge runs a bit cold. On my 4 and 5 day samples there was some tenderization, but no apparent Koji growth or funk. My tests outside the fridge yielded very good results.

[@professorm4171]

Koji coverts the rice starch into sugar. So what you're getting there was sugar covered steaks. Also the rice soaks up any moisture.

[@restlessoblivion]

I like your laid back, couldn't care less attitude. Had me chuckling the entire time

[@TheBarbecueShow]

I`ll give this a try for sure. Always love eating a steak.

[@BrookMonroe]

From a Bon Appetit online article about this: "Don’t go too long [aging in the refrigerator] or the meat starts to get too tough and begins to almost cure....The koji steak is also a little less tender than the 45-day one, but I’m not complaining." From what that article said it's more about the flavor than the texture. So your experiment was pretty much done correctly even if you didn't grind the koji rice down to a flour.

[@dblshotz75]

i left a ribeye in the fridge for 3 days uncovered as i had forgotten about it. it looked dark and dry and i thought about throwing it out but decided to fry it up and to my surprise it turned out to be the most tender steak ive ever had at home. the meat simply melted in my mouth. ill have to try it again and see if i get the same results.

[@kimchiburger7844]

I've played with koji for a while. It has a lot of sugar, thats why it burns. I have done this but i vacuum sealed it, so not air dried. I didn't sear it first, but did the reverse sear. I let it "marinate" for a week. It has the essence of a dry aged steak, close, but not that close. Try it on pork cheeks. Its so good.

[@Yungbsao]

in addition to the loss of moisture in the aging time, the Koji turns the protein molecules into sugars, which is why the steaks caramelize darker/quicker

[@AlemealsCom]

Another method I've got to try...I'm loving your videos..thanks

[@RicH0864]

This reminds me of Katsuobushi. The theory behind it is that the Koji uses its enzymes to break down the protein into simpler products, preferably a glutamate. Microbes are cool.

[@kylehazachode]

I'm going to try this, but sous vide instead. Great video, now I have another use for koji.

[@XieYali]

You can also make amazake with koji which is a delicious drink consumed in winter and especially for the New Year holiday.

[@Zheols]

hello not sure if you sill read this but i use koji all the time try again but keep the steak about 80 and 70-80% humidity for 2 days i think you will like the out come

[@danieldumas7361]

Der chef John, I would like to thank you for posting not only your Awesome Successes, but also your "Don't try this at home" segments. I think it's very importent, for beginners as well as the adventurers, to understand what works and what Doesn't work, something that most Chefs don't bother to elaborate on. I personally have been aging my 1-1/4" ribeyes for the max 4-days, so I'm curious to learn how this Koji-Rub works....And as always, THANK YOU! D

[@DaChaosify]

Hey Chef John, my mother's birthday is coming up and she wants to eat bouillabaisse! I would love to make it for her but I don't really know how. Would you be so kind and make a recipe video for it? Love all of your stuff!

[@ericjohnson8482]

Chef John, do you dry age the beef because it hasn't hung in the locker for long enough? We hang our beef for 14-17 days then cut it up. Do you dry age individual steaks after that? What is the benefit?

[@MrMZaccone]

The tenderizing effect of dry aging occurs because of higher concentration enzymes in the reduced moisture meat, not because of any bacterial or fungal action and it occurs almost entirely in the first 7 to 14 days of the process.

[@lukas.strautins]

Thank you for a very unbiased, yet informative video :)

[@JUSTSTUDYMORE]

so.. what do you think of doing the koji rub, scrapping off, vac sealing... then cooking it sous vide for like 2 hours @ a med rare temp...then finishing w/sear

[@storm0fnova]

from my personal experience "dry aging" steaks in my own fridge. i noticed that using rice simply slows down the aging process, but basically since its losing moisture it won't be as tender if u assume it's the same steak. meaning, you have to cook it less, a lot less. when the skin drys it crusts better but the problem is that you have less time also, the meat develops better flavor as a result

[@zetsubro]

You are the OG of your Koji steaks

[@Euphoria0011]

I did this for 4 days, flipped at the 2 day mark on wax paper and got really good results. Even better when I had one of the steaks i aged for 4 days in a bag of roasted red pepper dressing for an additional 2 days i found at my local organic foods outlet.

[@magnusregmer]

Is it worth doing? Say you have an untreated steak and a Koji-steak, which would you rather choose?

[@mccormickmb]

Hey! Do you think you could do the koji method and then cook it sous vide? Might that help the texture? Probably requires testing regardless.

[@LOLCoolJ]

Would you say that it's worth the cost and effort? Perhaps for the desired tenderness you could cook it sous vide for an extended period.

[@dinein1970]

Interesting for sure. In those 2-3 days, what is really going on is... Water loss/ getting absorbed from the rice. It's not "hanging around" long enough for the enzymes present to really breakdown the protein.

[@Dominikmj]

May be it would be cool to mix the koji with fish sauce (latter being another “hack” to achieve a dried aged steak aroma), which would definitely give it more funk. Maybe also using a thicker steak and cutting thinly the layer of coating off... and sous vide the whole shebang before quickly searing it...? John - now that the Anova Nano comes out, you should really do more videos with the sous vide technique. It becomes definitely affordable now - and I believe it is the technique of the future!

[@saylem5468]

ty chef john for making my day with another video!

[@14KroshTV]

i used a retire dairy cow and sous vide it, turns out really really well.

[@emy1111]

FYI package says Miyako Kouji i think... Thanks chef! this looks interresting!

[@edsween1000]

Chef John, you should try marinating the steak in "Shio-Koji" next time, instead of the pure "Kome-Koji" that you used here! "Shio-Koji" literally translates to "Salt Koji", and it a mixture of Kome-Koji, water, and salt, and should look like a paste. It works well with anything, but my mum usually marinates chicken in it for a night and cooks it in the oven. A little bit of "Yuzu-Kosho" and "Ponzu" completes the dish and it is just divine...writing this comment made me want to go back home to Japan...

[@mrcokez1]

not going to lie @ 3:32 My mouth was watering. Looks amazing.

[@MrDJCoulton]

This technique seems to remove the water like dry aging but without the controlled enzyme tenderisation of dry aging. That's probably why its tougher

[@kalekain3521]

John, not sure if I overlooked it, but how long did you cook the steak for?

[@clifflee5404]

I had a question: have you ever tried doing this with just raw koji, NOT koji rice? the rice being starch I wonder may have added a secondary element that made it a bit tough. At the same time, wouldn't dry aging by nature pull out moisture? I know some of the fibers do break down supposedly making it softer but I'm curious how much can aging make it tougher because less moisture? that's prob why it browned faster because less water content. I would think just the fungus koji might be better. Especially since I know people are adding fungus to aged beef now a days. Like that Heston B. guy.

[@CochetVolaille]

i wonder if it got tough because the rice absorbed the juices and moisture? im not sure how dry aging works because im an amateur myself but thats all i can really assume.

[@wilakt4fud]

Since the koji seems to make the steak brown *really* quickly, I wonder if the solution is to do the koji preparation, then sous vide the meat to temp, then give it a quick sear in the pan just for crust.

[@SinisterKnightz]

The water activation method appears to be the proper technique. But I suggest we take it a step further and go with a sous vide water bath before the final sear. If you feel so inclined, give it a shot. As always, great vids....Thanks.

[@paulstillar47]

Im going to try it Chef John , ...one ..more ..day

[@studlydoright111]

Try coating with Kosher salt first overnight, and THEN coat with Koji rice. That should help make it more tender.

[@AhnaMaria]

This was very suspenseful.

[@Zaekk]

I think the powderization of the koji rice is an integral part of the equation; more surface area = faster "reaction speed" for the bacteria as more colonies are in contact with the product for more time.

[@rand0mpr0]

Those of you who don't know, when a piece of meat is dry aged, all the outer part is removed, what is left is the tenderness that you will get from dry aging because the outer dry/rotting meat becomes a case that seals in the meat allowing it to age properly. "Dry" aging in this method will only leave you with a slightly chewier than average steak.

[@noreaction1]

What source did you find this in? I'm curious to know what the best sources are that you use

[@vietrofl]

I recently saw it on Bon appetit

[@RckyIRL]

I'm not sure if I'm gonna try it. Maybe after I decide if I'm going to take a nap. This might take awhile...

[@spieldle]

Do you think the meat needs to be exposed to air or can it koji-age wrapped in plastic?

[@c-LAW]

your commentary is very valuable. thank yoU

[@simplynatalies]

Wow another great recipe.

[@nikosfilipino]

Hey chef john I know this is completely unrelated to the video but hear me out. I graduate from high school in less than a month and considering on attending culinary school (originally i was going to attend le cordon bleu but all US schools closed). I have a passion for cooking but i have to weigh in the money factor of it all and i have no idea if i have what it takes to become an executive chef and/or start a business. any input?

[@RaulVazquez-dh7sz]

Awesome videos! i just subscribed. I think the steak wasn't as tender as you expected because the connective tissues didn't have enough time to break down.

[@dustydamsel6314]

Have you tried doing it again, but actually powdering like they said?

[@markovsergeyovich6792]

Can you cook the steak with the Koji race on it? With this give it a better flavor or a better taste?

[@darthredneck]

Hey Chef John, I love your show! I try to make a food wishes dish about once a week and they are always spectacular. My girlfriend and I are very partial to your Irish Sodabread. Anyway, can you do a recipe for tamales? Thanks!

[@SebbySenpai]

I just noticed John ends almost all his sentences with an upward inflection. *CAN'T UNHEAR*

[@nolansykinsley3734]

+Sir Sebastian That used to annoy me so much that I actively refused to watch his channel, but over the years it has stopped annoying me cause his videos are just so good.

[@barrelbrine2230]

the koji would have been more prominent and more of a dry aged flavor present if the koji was powdered and dredged. a lot of surface area was left un-touched. you can scrape the powder off fairly easily even in powder form because it becomes slightly doughy. Dry aging releases the umami rich amino acids and the koji rice will do the same thing.

[@tippyh4639]

wow looks fantastic! made mine the other day turn out YUCK! shall make this recipe sooon have severals steaks in the freezer thanks chef John.

[@CutTheFat]

The underlying funk? That is definitely an interesting way to describe dry aged steak taste.

[@LycheeMonstaMedia]

There is a video on Munchies of dry aged wagu. Describes a very similar funk.

[@QuebeccPower]

Hey Chef! You should try the test with Cheese cloth. Work really great!

[@Shmeeps_phd]

I dunno how you could expect tender meat with it so overcooked. Maybe it was just the lighting but what you called "just past MR" looked a lot closer to MW to me. Cool idea though, I might give it a try.

[@WiseBites24]

i have seen a video that they have done it with a FISH sauce ... can you test that as well ?

[@jefflucero4016]

What if you did another "fast" aging technique i.e a little fish sauce vacuum sealed marinade for 3 days combined with water activated koji at the end? I'm thinking approx. 5-7 days to before trying to season and cook the steaks. i'm too broke to try it right now but if someone is daring enough to start this experiment that would be awesome. Once I get the ingredients to try this I'll update with the results.

[@Darth_Zamiel]

you don't need the koji rice. koji is safe to work with because the fungus doesn't eat meat or fat. doing the same thing with just plain crushed rice would have had the same effect. the method I actually use is paper towel. wrap a thick strip in a double layer of paper towel (I use viva), be sure to tuck the ends under the steak so you get complete coverage, and set on a rack in the fridge for 24 hours. then change the paper towel and place back in the fridge for 24-72 more hours depending on the steak. the fattier and thicker the steak, the longer it takes. pasture raised beef I only age for 48 hours total. a 1.5"+ thick prime strip might go the full 4 days if the ends aren't getting too dry on day 3. you're right this method isn't quite the same as traditional dry aging because of many factors, but it's pretty close. if you grill your steak it's nearly identical. enjoy :)

[@Darth_Zamiel]

+Boo Radley almost forgot, before I cook steaks I age, I let them sit at room temp for 1-2 hours, and sprinkle with salt and pepper about 15 min before cooking. making sure the steak is room temp all the way through will give the moisture left in the center of the steak a chance to spread back out to the surface. the salt helps bring that moisture to the surface to help with crust formation. lastly, aging any steak in this way will cause it to cook faster than usual. I just cook for one grade rarer than what I'm actually after and it works fine. (i.e. - want medium, cook till you think it's medium rare).

[@alexbryer7892]

Interesting. Don't know much about cooking but I have some ideas as to why you may not have achieved the result you wanted -- aside from the idea that you should have wet the dry material before application. The organism secretes an enzyme called amylase, which acts on polysaccharides -- such as starches or glycogen (the seemingly only relevant target in the case of texture, since glycogen is in muscle tissue). However, glycogen really only exists in muscle tissue at 1 or 2% of the total mass. So I'm not entirely sure what the goal of this cooking strategy is, since the target of the enzyme in the meat makes up a small portion of the total mass. If you didn't sense much of a difference in sweetness (from rice starch being converted to sugar) or difference in texture (from the enzyme acting on the meat), I'm thinking that the refrigeration process inhibited the growth of the organisms; and additionally, proper refrigeration temperatures are much lower than the ideal temperature for amylase's chemical activity. Ideal amylase activity should occur at human body temperature, as with other enzymes found in the the human body. I'm not sure if there's any viability to letting the meat warm to room temperature for a couple of hours, after it has spent a few days in the fridge, or allowing it to sit out after the initial application. But the process itself seems to have contradictory steps and it needs some reworking to generate desired results.

[@Youza899]

Do you have to use Koji rice or can I just use regular rice?

[@pluto517]

DO you have a link to the article about this method?

[@nonothingcook4194]

Thank you for some great information. I subbed because I don't know what I am usually doing and I think you could help. Thank you again.

[@forbiddenspatula4243]

Maybe a Koji and truffle salt rub? Salt for tenderization, truffle for funk, and koji for dry age smell?