安妮塔手作日記

Koji, is the fungus, aspergillus oryzae, that grows on grain substrate. It is used in many East Asian cuisines to ferment food. The rich enzymes of koji break down starches and proteins of grains into sugars and amino acids, for making various miso, soy sauces, sake, amazake, etc.

The koji starter I use here for making koji rice is Light Rice Koji Starter from Gem Cultures in US. If you live in Canada, Culture Mother is going to launch those koji starters soon. In Taiwan, you can find various koji starters at Da Shan and 錦池。The whole procedure of making rice koji takes about 3 days.  

米麴（rice koji，米こうじ，米糀），是米麴菌（種麴，tane koji，koji starter，學名：Aspergillus oryzae）接種到煮熟的飯粒上，經過一段時間發酵而成。做好的米麴可以再加工做成鹽麴、味噌、豆腐乳、味霖、甘酒、清酒等健康又美味的食物，是很多發酵食品的基本和必需素材。

對立志成為一個自給自足的宅農婦來說，米麴是我手作發酵食品裡的鐵咖。沒有米麴，我的櫃架上就變不出那些瓶瓶罐罐的各式手作味噌和豆腐乳。宅婦喜歡自己動手發米麴。我的米麴菌來自美國的GEM Cultures。他們有很多不同的米麴菌，這裡用的是light rice koji starter，屬於日本丸福麴種，發好的米麴可以做成甘口白味噌、信州淡黃味噌、甘酒和清酒等。整個發米麴的過程約時三天。

INGREDIENTS *

• 600g  Rice 白米

• 1g  Rice Koji Starter 米麴菌

* The ratio of rice and koji starter is 〔1000 : 1〕 or 〔1000 : 2〕。

DIRECTIONS

Late evening, January 29, 2015

Rinse the rice and soak it overnight or for 8 hours, then drain it.

清洗白米，並浸泡整夜或八小時，瀝乾。

Morning, January 30, 2015

Steam cook the soaked rice for about 30 minutes.  

瀝乾米粒至於蒸籠裡中大火蒸30分鐘。

After 30 minutes, the rice is steamed and cooked. Set it aside to cool around 35-40c (95-104F).

30分鐘後，米已經蒸熟成粒粒分明的米飯，放置一旁攤涼到35-40C。

While steamed rice is cooling down, measure 1g of koji starter.

攤涼米飯的時候，量好1克的米麴菌。

When steamed rice cooled to 35c (95F), inoculate the koji starter to the steamed rice by spreading it over the rice evenly.

當米飯降溫到35度C，將米麴菌均勻撒在米飯上。

Mix the koji starter and steamed rice well and thoroughly, then place the inoculated rice in the koji tray evenly.

將米麴菌和米飯充分混合均勻，再平舖在發酵木盒中。

I don't have a koji muro, so I incubate my koji in my oven with the light on and the door cracked open by a kitchen towel (the temperature is 31.5c when the light is on). I also cover the koji tray with a damp cheesecloth for maintaining the moisture inside of the oven.  

將發酵盒整個至於開燈烤箱中發酵。我的開燈烤箱溫度約為31.5C (88.7F)。上蓋層微濕布以維持發酵環境的濕度。

The oven door cracked open by a kitchen towel in order to improve the air circulation. If it's too cold, I'll put a cup of hot water to warm the oven up. The proper humidity for fermenting rice koji is 68%, so check the rice occasionally, if it's drying out, damp the cover cheesecloth or mist the rice.

以一條毛巾隔開烤箱門，以利空氣流通。如果烤箱內溫度太低，可以放一杯熱水幫助升溫，也可以給予濕氣。適合米麴發酵的濕度環境是68%，所以看發酵環境狀況可適度給予濕氣。我會每隔幾個小時把覆蓋的布弄濕，或給米麴噴水。

Morning, January 31, 2015

Second day morning, saw some white spots appeared which is a good sign, also I can smell a trace of sweet aroma. It means the koji mold is developing well.

今早查看米麴，開始出現白色點點了，也聞到香香甜甜的米麴味，開心！這次的米用蒸的，沒那麼多水分，一顆顆晶瑩剔透，不像以前是一坨坨的飯糰XD 終於，我的米粒可以做翻麴的動作了，哈哈哈

Morning, February 01, 2015

Third day morning, the rice has been incubating for 2 days at 28C. It's 3/4 covered by white furry mold, the sweet aroma is stronger. Everything is going so wonderfully! I think it will be ready to harvest later today.

進入發麴第三天早上，約3/4已經長滿白色米麴，剩下的1/4表面也已經零星佈滿白色點點，這盤米麴發到今天差不多可以收成了。

Afternoon

Crumbled the rice koji, spreaded it evenly in the koji tray. Place the try beside heat vent overnight.

我把發好的米麴撥散成一顆顆，淺鋪在木盒中，置於暖氣出口旁烘乾一晚。

Morning, February 02, 2015

Double check the dryness of koji rice. Make sure no trace of moisture in order to prevent bad mold growing. Place dried koji rice in a plastic bag and store it in cool and dry place without direct sunlight. Use it within six months.

今早再次確認都乾了，收藏於袋中，半年內用完。

PS. 如果買不到米麴菌，用日本米麴餅也能在家自製米麴。米麴餅自製米麴方法

Last Updated on February 02, 2015