Amasake

Amasaké is a thick and creamy traditional Japanese dessert made from fermented grains. Popular among those who follow a macrobiotic lifestyle, this creamy dessert can be enjoyed by anyone. It doesn’t contain any refined sugars or sweeteners, but gets its sweet taste from the natural fermentation process which breaks down the complex sugars. When you first taste this healthy dessert, you’ll think that someone has put sugar into it, but it really is natural

The basic ingredient is grain, usually rice, but you can also use millet, oats, buckwheat, barley, or a combination of these grains.

This porridge is made sweet by mixing mashed sprouted wheat with rice, which start the fermentation process. For those with wheat allergies, brown rice koji can be used instead of the wheat. The price of koji is significantly more expensive than wheat (about 16 euros for a 500g jar), but this size jar will make amasaké ten times.

Other Advantages of Amasaké

• It’s a healthy dessert without any added sweeteners, flavors, or preservatives
• It is easily digestible
• It doesn’t affect the pancreas - although amasaké is very sweet, its consumption doesn’t raise blood sugar levels
• It’s suitable for babies
• It has a wide range of applications: not only as a standalone dessert, but also as an ingredient in cakes, porridge (oat, grits, etc.), puddings, drinks, pies, cakes or soufflés

Benefits of making it at home

• Much less expensive to make at home
• Homemade amasaké is fresher
• You can try different combinations of cereals

How do you prepare amasaké at home?

Ingredients
250 g of any rice (or millet, oats, buckwheat, barley or combination)
2 tablespoons sprouted wheat grains or 50 grams of koji rice

Preparation Cook the rice and allow it to cool to a temperature where you can comfortably touch it (50-60° C). Blend the sprouted grains in a mixer to a powder consistency, then stir it into the rice. If you are using koji rice, there is no need for blending – just stir it into the cooked rice. Put the mixture in a container directly into the Sana SmartBreadMaker and set the temperature to 40-50 ° C. The sweetening process takes about 6 hours. Occasionally stir the mixture and, after a few hours, taste it to check the sweetness. When it tastes sweet enough, it’s ready. If you don’t plan to eat it right away, heat it to at least 90° C and cook it while stirring for about 15 minutes. This will stop the fermentation process and keep it sweet.

Where to find sprouted wheat or koji rice

Both can be purchased online or in some health food stores. You can also easily make your own sprouted wheat. Using whole wheat berries (which can be purchased in our e-shop, or from health food stores), soak them overnight in water. Drain them the next morning and put them in a dark place. Two or three times a day, rinse and dry the grain thoroughly. After 2-3 days, they should begin sprouting. As soon as the sprouts reach 2-3 mm, they can be dried. The best way to dry them is in an oven at very low temperatures. Put the sried sprouted wheat in a sealable jar and keep it refrigerated.

Facts and other uses of amasaké

• Amasaké eaten on an empty stomach helps to heal the pancreas.
• Enzymes contained in amasaké promote digestion and absorption of nutrients.
• If you mix amasaké , you will get a cream that you can eat by itseld, or use in preparing other foods instead of sugar.
• Spread the amasaké on homemade bread.
• Add to amasaké fruit, nuts, vanilla, coconut, cinnamon, and stir in 5 tablespoons of custard for an amazing, healthy dessert.
• If you boil amasaké with agar or pudding, you get a thick cream that you can use to decorate cakes.
• What if we don’t eat all the amasaké right away? Take a jar and fill it with the hot amasaké to the brim. Screw on the lid and turn the jar upside down. This will sterilize it so it will last longer. Once the jar has cooled, store it in the fridge.