Creamy with a natural mild sweetness, Amazake or sweet sake is a popular Japanese hot drink during the New Year’s and Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival). In this post, you will see two ways to make Amazake: one with rice koji and the other one with sake lees.
When I was younger, I always associated amazake (甘酒) with the taste of alcoholic sake. It was that distinct aroma of sake in the drink that gave me the impression that it would be too strong, so I would always pass on the drink when someone offered it. I didn’t know there was a non-alcoholic version then.
What is Amazake?
Amazake (pronounced ah-mah-ZAH-kay) is a traditional Japanese drink made of fermented rice. Literally means “sweet” (甘) “sake” (酒), it has a creamy, thick consistency with a sweet flavor, served either chilled or warm/hot. Although it is commonly called the sweet sake, Amazake can be made either low-alcohol or non-alcohol.
The history of amazake goes back to the Kofun period (250 to 538 AD), mentioned in The Nihon Shoki (日本書紀) or The Chronicles of Japan – the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history.
There are 2 Types of Amazake. Alcoholic amazake made with sake lee (the one I didn’t like growing up), and the non-alcoholic amazake made with rice koji. I now enjoy both types of amazake and they have been my favorite winter comfort drink for many years.
By the way, if you are familiar with Korean sweet rice drink (sikhye) that is served complimentary at the end of a meal at a Korean restaurant, you may think amazake is the same drink. It is not. Amazake is made with rice, water, and sake lees (酒粕) or rice koji (米麹), while sikhye is made of malted barley flour, rice, sugar, and water.
Non-Alcoholic Amazake Made with Rice Koji
- Non-alcoholic; can be enjoyed by everyone including small children and pregnant ladies
- Made with rice, rice koji, and water
- Can be time-consuming to make
- Temperature control is very important
Rice koji (kome koji 米麹) is rice that is covered with kōji mold (Aspergillus oryzae). As you may already know, kōji mold is used in making many Japanese fermented foods such as miso, soy sauce, mirin, and sake. It helps create some of the most important Japanese ingredients, and maybe one of the contributing reasons to Japanese longevity!
You can buy rice koji (including one above from Cold Mountain) at Japanese grocery stores (refrigerated section near miso), or Amazon.
To make amazake, ferment the rice with rice koji at 125-140 ºF (50-60 ºC) for 8 to 10 hours. This particular temperature range is the most suitable temperature for the enzyme to break down the starch into glucose/sugar.
Low-Alcohol Amazake Made with Sake Lees
- Alcoholic (8%)
- Made with sake lees, sugar, and water
- Easy method
Amazake made with lees left from sake production (sakekasu 酒粕) is a low-alcoholic drink (8% alcohol). Sake lees are dissolved in hot water and sugar is added in to sweeten the lees.
Benefits of Drinking Amazake Made with Rice Koji
Amazake made with rice koji has more nutritional value than the one made with sake lees, and it’s called the “IV drip to drink”「飲む点滴」in Japan.
This fermented rice drink is packed with nutrients, including vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, folic acid, ferulic acid, dietary fiber, glutamine, and a large amount of glucose – which are almost the same components as an IV drip, hence the catchy nickname for amazake.
Benefits of drinking amazake:
- anti-aging
- improved skin (prevent spots and freckles, skin lightening, moisturizing)
- increased metabolism
- fatigue recovery
- improved digestion
- strengthened immune system
Even though amazake is good for you, it is important to enjoy the sweet drink in moderation, especially if you’re diabetic. Just one cup (200-250 ml) of amazake in a day is enough to provide you these health benefits.
Tips to Make Amazake at Home
Amazake with Rice Koji
- Temperature control is the key! You need to maintain the rice and rice koji mixture between 125 and 140 ºF (50-60 ºC) at all times (8 to 10 hours).
- If the temperature is too high, the enzyme of koji does not work sufficiently and won’t become sweet. Conversely, if the temperature is too low, the fermentation of lactic acid progresses too much and the bacteria propagate, causing the drink to become too sour.
- Use whatever device you like (a rice cooker, yogurt maker, thermos pot/jar, etc). To me, the rice cooker is the easiest option. Instant Pot Ultra has a “custom” temperature setting in the yogurt function so you can set the temperature to 125-140 ºF (50-60 ºC) throughout.
Amazake with Sake Lees
- Let the sake lees softened first and dissolved completely.
- Adjust the amount of sugar according to your preference.
- Get sake lees at Japanese grocery stores or sale manufacture (usually they give it for free!).
Drinking Amazake in Japan
If you have traveled to Japan before, you might have had a chance to try complimentary amazake at your ryokan, or even some souvenir shops. It is a popular drink served during New Year’s in Japan as well. Many temples and shrines provide it free of charge to worshippers on New Year’s Day and sell it for visitors to bring home.
Amazake is also served during Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival) held on March 3rd every year, as a non-alcoholic option to shirozake (白酒) – a sweet white sake with less alcohol, which is traditionally served on this day.
Amazake is the perfect winter drink. It’s healthy, comforting, sweet & creamy! Just what you need to keep warm and cozy until springtime.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Creamy with a natural mild sweetness, Amazake or sweet sake is a popular Japanese hot drink during the New Year's and Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival). In this post, you will see two ways to make Amazake: one with rice koji and the other one with sake lees.
- 1 rice measuring cup uncooked Japanese short-grain rice (180 ml, 150 g)
- water (See the instructions for cooking the rice porridge)
- 1 cup water (240 ml; for cooling the porridge, you may need more or less)
- 1 cup Rice Koji (200 g, 7 oz)
- 4 cups water (960 ml)
- ½ cup sake lees (sake kasu) (packed tightly; 4.2 oz, 120 g)
- ⅓ cup sugar (2.5 oz, 70 g, 6 Tbsp)
- pinch kosher/sea salt (use half for table salt) (to taste)
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In a rice cooker bowl, add the rinsed short grain rice. Add water until the 1 cup porridge water line. If there is no porridge water line, add water to the regular white rice 4 cup line. Cook the porridge according to your rice cooker’s instructions (or Press “Porridge”).
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Once the porridge is cooked, the temperature is around 175 ºF. Take out the bowl from the rice cooker.
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Gradually add water, 1/8 cup at a time, stir thoroughly and measure the temperature of the porridge. The temperature has to cool down to 140 ºF (60 ºC) as koji mold cannot live above that temperature.
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Once the porridge has reached 140 ºF (60 ºC), add the crumbled rice koji. Stir thoroughly to incorporate. Make sure there is enough water to cover the rice and rice koji so they are sufficiently soaked. If not, add warm water so it maintains 140 ºF (60 ºC).
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Put the rice cooker bowl back into the rice cooker. Turn the rice cooker on to “keep warm” (or "extended keep warm") setting and cover with a cloth towel. Leave the rice cooker lid fully open so it does not get too hot. Allow the rice to cook for 8-10 hours, stirring occasionally and checking the temperature of the mixture every hour for the first 2-3 hours. Make sure it stays between 125 and 140 ºF (50-60 ºC) at ALL TIMES.
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Toward the end of 8 hours, the mixture starts to release the sweet fragrance. Once it’s done cooking, the mixture should smell sweet. Turn off the rice cooker and transfer the rice cooker bowl into ice water to let cool and stop cooking. When it’s cooled, transfer the amazake into a large sterilized container.
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Take out the portion you need, dilute the mixture with (hot/iced) water to the consistency you like (I like mine without diluting) and serve hot (reheat) or chilled. You can serve with grated ginger. My kids love smoothies made with amazake, banana, and soymilk. If you heat amazake above 140 ºF (60 ºC), the enzyme will die, so if you like to heat up, enjoy lukewarm in order to obtain the enzyme.
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Gather all the ingredients. Tear the sake lees into small pieces.
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Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large pot. Using a sieve, dissolve the sake lees into the water. It may take some time to do this step, but you don’t want to drink the chunk of sake lees so let them soften first, which will be easier to dissolve.
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Once all dissolved, add sugar and salt. Let it cook until the preferred consistency. I reduce the amazake by cooking for 15 minutes or so to achieve a slightly thicker consistency. Serve hot/warm and enjoy!
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You can keep in the refrigerator up to one week, or in the freezer for up to a month.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Other Japanese Drinks You May Enjoy
- Plum Wine (Umeshu)
- Buckwheat Tea (Sobacha)
- Japanese Cream Soda
- How to Make Matcha (Japanese Green Tea)
- Japanese Iced Coffee
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on January 8, 2018. The post has been edited in February 2020.
Hi Nami,
I sent my payment by Pay Pal a while back but never received my Cookbook.
I have the receipt here I can send to you but need your e-mail address please.
Thank you,
Miles Ueda
Hi Miles! I do have a receipt of your payment made on 11/7/17. The ebook is always sent automatically upon receiving payment. Most of the time when people don’t get it, it’s in the spam folder.
I just resent the download link. Please check your spam folder if you don’t see any email. FYI my email address is hello @ just one cookbook . com (no space).
I apologize for the inconvenience. Let me know if I can help you with anything. If this doesn’t work, I can figure out another way to send the file.
Hi, Nami:
My rice cooker is an older model and has no “keep warm” setting. Would it be all right to scoop the rice out into a small slow cooker (1.5 qts) and put it on the warm setting?
Hi Jess! The important part to find out is the temperature of the warm setting in your slow cooker. Like I mentioned in the post, it’s SUPER important that the warm setting stays between 125 and 140 ºF (50-60 ºC) for 8 to 10 hours. If it’s higher or lower than that, it won’t succeed (don’t take risk and waste your ingredients). So… find the temperature in your manual or put the water inside and see what your thermometer says. Realistically, if you can somehow set the liquid temperature between 125 and 140 ºF (50-60 ºC) for 8 to 10 hours CONTINUOUSLY, you can do this process in the pot over stovetop… but you know it’s not easy to control temp that way for such a long hours… Hope this helps?
Hi, Nami:
It does, thanks! My parents are from Taiwan and my mom likes to make jiu niang (which seems similar to amazake), and I know keeping it warm enough is key. My mom likes to keep it in the oven on a very low temp, but it doesn’t always work!
I’ll get a thermometer first and test it out with water! I’d love to do it on the stove on low, but I don’t think I have the time to constantly fiddle about on it! Thank you for the help.
Hope you can figure it out to make this delicious amazake. 🙂
Nice to see an amazake recipe on JOC. I make it at home with kasu from my homebrew rice wine, but it is nice to have a recipe for people who don’t drink alcohol or just don’t have rice wine lees lying around.
Thank you Matt! I’m one of those who can’t drink alcohol much. xD How wonderful to hear you make homebrew rice wine!!!!
I can’t wait to try this! I love to make Mexican fermented drinks, one with masa and one with pineapple, and this will be great to add to the list!
Hi Alex! Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
where do I get Koji?Thank you
Hi Kumiko! I’m not sure where you are…. but if you’re in the US, you can try Japanese grocery stores (definitely have it), or buy Cold Mountains here (http://www.pacificeastwest.com/072546382100.html) or amazon (http://amzn.to/2CQoR1F),
I REALLY want to make this, but my little rice cooker does not have a porridge setting. It has a setting for white rice, brown rice, flash rice, keep warm and steam. The instructions also don’t have any specific guidance for porridge or quick oats. What’s your suggestion for this..?
Hi Lindsay! Then don’t worry, you can add water to the regular white rice 4 cup line and cook regularly. Hope you enjoy!
This may sound really odd, but is it possible to do this in an oven? I have cats, so leaving something covered with only a towel is just an invitation to disaster. 😉 If an oven’s settings go low enough, would it work to set it to 130 or 135? (Not actually sure if mine even goes that low, but wanted to ask.) That would allow for slight variation as the temp adjusts itself. I’ve got a small casserole dish that would work. Really interested in trying this for the B vitamins and metabolic benefits.
Hi Amy! Haha, yes I can imagine the disaster scenario. 😀 Make sure to check the temperature for amazake and it is consistent. 🙂
Hi, Nami san!
I got a question for you. The last time I went to Japan was mid February of last year. There were plenty of Amazake sold in the supermarket. Some were used to marinade fish. They were selling the liquid kind and the dried kind. If I were to go to Japan again to buy them, which kind will you recommend?
Rice Koji is not available where I live. I will look for them when I go to Japan again next February.
Thanks
Hi Ima! Buy dry one that does not required refrigeration. 🙂
https://www.marukome.co.jp/product/detail/koji_044/
I got this Marukome brand as a gift and it worked very well!
You can get this in an “instant” type version? I’ll have to check Hatoya next time I go!
Hi Amy! Are you referring to the link I listed in my previous comment? It’s not an instant version, as you have to cook. It’s just that dried rice koji is packaged into 2 bags (measured), so you just need to cook it.
Hi, Nami-san. I love Amazake but only kome-koji version. Anyways do you think I could ferment this in Instant Pot with yogurt setting? Thank you.
Hi Junchan! I mentioned in the blog post that IP doesn’t work due to the temperature for yogurt setting. 🙂
Hi, Nami-san. I made my first Amazake. It came out so good. Last time I had Amazake was like 20 years ago when I went to Hatsumoude in Japan. Thank you.
Hi Junchan! Yaaaaay! I’m so happy to hear that your amazake came out well! Thank you for your kind feedback! I have to make another batch soon. SO good!
How can I make this in Instapot?
Hi Sandy! I mentioned in the blog post – Instant Pot’s “keep warm” temperature is too high, so no, you can’t use it unfortunately…
Hi Nami! Looking forward to trying this soon, but I actually only have Jasmine rice and sweet rice (mochi gome) at home. Would either of these work as a substitute do you think?
Hi Tiffany! Hmmm… I had never tried this recipe with jasmine rice or mochigome… I am not sure… I feel that it will work but it may not taste the same as I know jasmine rice has strong smell once it’s cooked (at least to me). Maybe give it a go and find out?
Hi Nami! I ended up trying this out with the Jasmine rice and is worked out great! It’s nice and sweet and looks just the picture! with the Jasmine rice though it only took 5 hours and a half, so perhaps the taste is a little different when using Japanese rice. After I figure out how well it keeps, I plan to make more. Thank you very much for the recipe C:
Hi Tiffany! AWESOME!!! Thank you so much for coming back with your feedback. I’m sure other JOC readers appreciate your trial. Thank you for letting us know the details. I’m happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
hello, thank you for the recipe. can you please help? i’d like to make sake, if i leave amazake out on the counter for a few days will it turn to sake? thank you
Hi Dana! No, it won’t. I don’t know exact science to make sake but it’s way more complicated than… that’s for sure i know….
I made the Amazake in a freezer bag and sous vide at 135°F.
I have decided to ferment some with yeast for alcohol and then to vinegar.
Thank you for the recipe and the nice website.
Hi Chris! That is AWESOME!!! I forgot that I can do it with my sous vide too. Thanks so much for your comment and kind feedback. 🙂
Hey! The recipe was absolutely delicious, though I did play around with my manual (and very cheap) slow cooker, since I own a very small and basic rice cooker. I initially made the porridge using the stove, and brought the temperature down to 140 after it finished cooking. I then transferred it to my slow cooker with the keel warm setting, and kept it in there for like 8 hours. The final temperature was about 150, and I turned it off and let it sit for 2 hours. It was saccharine sweet when it came it!
Hi Brunilda! WONDERFUL!! I’m so so happy to hear you made it work with what you have! Thank you for sharing your tip – I’m sure others would appreciate your info. 🙂 I have been wanting to make some too, and you just inspired me to do it this weekend!!
Could you please tell me if this would work in a multi cooker?
I’ve tried it and it doesn’t seem sweet, just rice porridge which I’m ok with but how to work it in a Multi cooker
Hi Nina! A multi cooker like Instant Pot? I checked the yogurt setting temperature (lowest temp you can set on IP) and it’s too high. When the temp is too high, it would kill the koji. I think yours didn’t get fermented (no sweet smell) and koji died. 🙁
Please check your multi cooker temperature in the manual guide and compare. I mentioned the specific temperature in the blog post under “Making a Perfect Cup of Amazake”. 🙂
I am wondering. My Tiger rice cooker has a ferment setting (for Bread), do you think that would work? Or should I just stick with monitoring the “Keep Warm” function?
Hi Ken! Oh that’s cool! Find out the exact temperature setting for that setting. The temperature for Amazake should be 125 and 140 ºF (50-60 ºC) at ALL TIMES. My oven has a proof setting for bread, but it’s around 100 ºF / 38 ºC, a bit too low for Amazake.
Hello, I recently have purchased instant pot with yogurt function. Do you know if you can make amazake with it? Thanks a million.
Hi Izumi! I talked about this in my blog post, but the short answer is that you can’t use it because the temp is still too high…
I looked for rice koji at my local asian markets and couldn’t find it, so I ordered some online. Then, as my curse would have it, they started to have them at all of the local Asian markets cheaper than I had paid. Haha. I have a certain curse where whenever I buy something difficult to find, or something permanent (like a new kitchen appliance/utensil) I find the same thing cheaper or find a better version a few weeks later (or a newer better version is released by the company).
Okay, fast forward to almost a year later after I bought the rice koji (I kept getting too busy to make amazake), I finally made it! Your recipe worked very well. My tip for other people making this is that if it reaches the upper limit of the temperature and you don’t have it covered, try adding a bit of cool water to get it into the right temperature range again. This is what I had to do a few times because even just laying a paper towel over it, it kept getting too hot, but if it was uncovered it was not hot enough. I gradually fixed it by making a little tent with the paper towel and after that it stayed in the right temperature range.
I served some with grated ginger. My friend said “tastes like cereal!” Haha! It really does when you add ginger to it and serve it cold. We really enjoyed it.
Hi Lion! I would think that Asian grocery stores don’t carry rice koji too, so that’s surprising that they started to carry! Wonder who’s buying and for what. I think you have the special power. 😉 I would love you to travel around the US and purchase some Japanese ingredients online so local Asian grocery stores would start carrying them! xD
I’m so glad to hear you tried this recipe and THANK YOU for sharing your tip! Very useful!!! And I love the ginger addition. I still have rice koji left from making miso (next post!) so I’ll make amazake. 🙂
p.s. Will return your email soon. Sorry… I have 163 more comments to respond before working on email…
Hi, I’m intrigued by this drink as I just start learning about koji. Thanks for taking the time to publish your process! You describe this process as fermentation but doesn’t Koji-kin die above 115F? This seems more like a protein or saccharification rest like in brewing, which relies on enzymes, not living organisms. The enzymes may denature above 140F which would halt conversion/sugar formation.
Hi Nate！ Thanks for pointing that out, and yes, what you said is 100% correct. I’ve edited my English. 🙂
Would it work AT ALL with brown rice??
Hi Janelle! Yes you can use brown rice too. 🙂
How about sushi rice?
Hi Allison! Do you mean Japanese short grain rice as in “Sushi rice”? Then yes, that’s what we use. Some rice company call Japanese short grain rice as “Sushi Rice” (I guess it’s more catchy?), but in Japan sushi rice means steamed rice seasoned with vinegar mix (sushi-zu). This sushi rice is ONLY used for making sushi. We do not use simple steamed rice for making sushi and use only vinegared “sushi rice”. Anyway, if you’re talking about short grain rice, then yes that’s what I list on my ingredient list. 🙂
I saw another video online, suggested once the fermentation has done, you need to cook the Amasake upto 70degree to stop the enzyme continually fermenting even store it in fridge, otherwise the Amazake will turn to sour after few days. is this the correct way to do so?
Hi Jane! It’s step 5 and 6. 🙂
hi {all!!!
making amazake {is very easy!!
we let it sit in our {OFF {oven
blending it with vanilla extract
{the PERFECT food
we use a {VITAMIX to blend it
comes out very creamy
{optional garish
cardamon
nutmeg
cinnamon
dried currants
{etc etc etc,,,,,,,,,
have FUN n ENJOY!
Hi Kim! Thank you for sharing your tip! xo
good morning all!!!
has anyone made MOCHI from scratch?
i need a GOOD recipe??
thanks!!
kim {NYC
Hi Kim! You will need a mochi pounding machine or you can follow this recipe using the kitchen aid (it’s messy but you “can” make mochi from scratch).
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-mochi-with-a-stand-mixer/
Or you can use mochiko or Shiratamako to make mochi.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/daifuku/
NAMI
thank you SO much!
kim
Hey 🙂
Unfortunately I don’t have a rice cooker or an instant pot, these are not really popular here…
Can I make Amazake regulary on a stove? I mean maybe I can make the porridge, then “incubate” it with the Koji rice for 8 hours in a 60 ºC oven?
Tell me if you think it’s possible 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Liav! As long as you can maintain the temperature, you can use any equipment. 🙂 Make sure it stays between 125 and 140 ºF (50-60 ºC) at ALL TIMES.
Question: Would the yogurt setting on the Instant pot work for fermentation of this rice sake?
Hi Molly! As I mentioned in the blog post, you can use the Instant Pot Ultra which has specific temperature control but based on a model you have, you may not be able to set a specific temperature. Then it can be risky…
“Instant Pot Ultra has a “custom” temperature setting in the yogurt function so you can set the temperature to 125-140 ºF (50-60 ºC) throughout.”
Hi! Been wanting something warm and comforting and this looks perfect. However, I have Cold Mountains Creamy Koji do you know if it will work with the creamy koji?
Hi Monica! I just checked the product. What you have is Shio Koji: https://www.justonecookbook.com/shio-koji/
It’s koji and salt together and we use it as a condiment. I have a lot of recipes using Shio Koji here:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/search/?q=shio%20koji
Unfortunately, you can’t use Shio Koji to make Amazake… sorry…