How to Prepare Amazake, A Japanese Healthy Drink

Monday, June 26, 2017

How to Prepare Amazake, A Japanese Healthy Drink

   As I mentioned in my yesterday's entry, I had amazake last night. Amazake (甘酒) is a traditional Japanese healthy drink made from fermented rice, koji. Ama (甘) means sweet and sake (酒) means alcohol in Japanese. However, amazake which made from koji usually doesn't contain alcohol. In contrast, amazake made from sake kasu (sake lees) contains subtle alcohol. Even though amazake which is made from koji doesn't contain sugar, it has slightly sweet tastes comes from fermented rice. It looks similar to rice porridge, but it tastes sweet and is more like dessert. :) Indeed, I was really surprised at how delicious it was when I had it last night!

      Amazake is a very healthy drink that is high in Vitamin B, folic acid and fiber. Since some famous Japanese fashion models said on TV show that they have been drinking amazake as a supplement drink to maintain their health and keep their skin beautiful, it has been a pretty popular drink in Japan these years.

      I purchased this Zen Amazake (禅あま酒) made by Kanejyu (カネジュウ食品), which is a Japanese company makes koji products such as miso, amazake and moromi, at my local Japanese supermarket in the U.S. If you live in Japan, you can find this at many supermarkets. I'm going to share how to prepare this Zen Amazake with you.

Amazake

Ingredients (5 to 6 Servings)
One Pack (400g) of Zen Amazake
350 ml (11.8 fl oz) of Water
1 Tablespoon of grated ginger

1. Put all ingredients into a sauce pan, and heat it up.