You can make barley koji using an electric cooking pot, which can be used for both steaming and keeping the barley warm for fermentation.
*Electric cooking pots, also known as automatic cooking pots, are cooking appliances that can be used at home to make stews, steamed dishes, and a variety of fermented foods such as koji, amazake, and tempeh.
Barley koji is often used to make Japanese fermented food like miso, soy sauce, and kinzanji miso.
Ingredients
No steamer or koji lid is required. All you need are these ingredients and tools:
- 200g Whole barley
- 2g Koji starter
- 1 Steaming cloth
- 1 Sheet of cloth
- 1 Bleached cloth
- Thermometer
- Tea strainer (You can also use a straining can)
- Rice paddle
The Process of Making Barley Koji
| Preparation the day before | ・Wash the barley ・Soak the washed barley in water |
| Day 1 | ・Drain the washed barley thoroughly. ・Steam the barley using the “Steam” setting of your electric cooking pot. ・Remove the steamed barley and sprinkle with koji starter (seeding). ・Wrap the barley in a cloth and keep it warm using the “Keep Warm” setting of your electric cooking pot. ・First koji maintenance |
| Day 2 | ・Second koji maintenance |
| Day 3 | ・Completion of koji |
How to Make
1. Wash the Barley
Wash the barley 2-3 times until the white turbidity disappears.
2. Soaking
Add water until the barley is submerged and soak for approximately 1 hour at a water temperature of 20°C. Barley absorbs water quickly, so do not soak it for too long.
3. Drain the Barley
Place the barley in a colander and drain for about 30 minutes. If you use a deep colander, the water will remain at the bottom, so use a colander that is as shallow as possible and spread it out.
If you stir the barley or shake the strainer, the surface of the barley will be scraped off and become powdery, causing it to become sticky. Leave the barley undisturbed while draining.
4. Preparing the electric cooking pot
Pour water into the inner pot and place a steaming plate on it.
5. Barley set
Wrap the barley in a steaming cloth and place it on a steaming plate.
6. Steaming
Tightly close the lid of the electric cooking pot. Make sure the pressure release valve is set to sealed. Press the “Steam” button and set the time to 15 minutes. After a while, the temperature and pressure will increase and the countdown will begin.
7. Cool the barley
Once the barley is steamed, spread it out on a special cloth. Use a rice paddle to quickly loosen the barley by cutting it, and let it cool.
8. Seeding the Koji Starter
Measure the temperature of the barley with a thermometer, and when it reaches about 35°C, sprinkle the koji starter. Mix quickly so that the barley temperature does not drop below 30°C.
9. Wrapping
Wrap it in a cloth such as polypropylene cloth, then wrap it in a bleached cloth. Insert a thermometer to check the temperature during fermentation.
10. Heat Retention
Just like step 4, pour water into the inner pot and place a steaming tray on it. (If there is enough water left after steaming, you can leave it as is.)
Place the wrapped barley on a steaming plate.
Press the “Keep Warm” button, set the temperature to 32°C, and the time to 48 hours.
11. Maintenance
The barley temperature is kept at around 30 to 35°C, and maintenance is taken when the temperature rises to around 40°C.
12. Finishing
The koji is ready approximately 42-50 hours after the start of the fermentation. The koji is ready when the mycelium has grown and the barley has stuck together and hardened, and can be easily separated by hand.
Read More About Koji
