”Koji” making by ”Kurabito”
Shinkame Brewery is a long established brewery in Saitama that makes about 180,000 liters of ”sake” per year. When Nakata visited there, they were in the middle of steaming ”sake” rice. The work already had begun at 3:30 in the morning, with a team of nine.
Then Nakata was shown the process of ”koji (rice malt)” making”. The steamed rice is brought into ”koji” room, where artisans spread it evenly on a table called ”toko”. Then seed fungus that looks like powder is sprinkled over it. Then the steamed rice is mixed, and again sprinkled with the seed fungus. The rice is then checked with a magnifying glass to see how the fungus has attached to the rice, and all the while, the temperature of rice is carefully monitored.
Inside the ”koji” room, the temperature and humidity are kept high to make an optimum condition for the fungus and the rice. So it is very hot in the room, and the artisans work in a tense atmosphere. Shinkame Brewery is famous for not adding any distilled alcohol in any of its products, and making only pure rice ”sake”. One could tell from the tense atmosphere that they really care about hand worked ”sake” making.
The temperature of ”sake” that matches the meals.
When speaking of low temperature maturing, at Shinkame Brewery it means the surprisingly low temperature of -10 degrees Celsius for making pure rice Ginjo ”sake” or the classes above. The maturing period is one year to several years. Through this maturing, the ”sake” achieves fullness of taste. They recommend their ”sake” to be drank warm rather than cold, a favorite way of drinking among Shinkame. Fans.
It is as if the ”sake” has slept through the cold temperature maturing and ”wakes up” to its original self when heated.
Nakata had a drink of hot ”Shinkame”. ”It’s full bodied and very delicious.”
On hearing that, Ogawahara, the Senior Managing Director said, ””Sake” must be full bodied when drank with meals. And I think when people get more ideas about what kind of ”sake” goes well with what kind of dishes, I expect that the consumption of ”sake” will increase. ”
Furthermore, Ogawahara, who not only thinks about the match between dishes and ”sake” but at what temperature the ”sake” is served , told us this episode.
”At my daughter’s wedding, I requested which ”sake” to be served at what temperature with which dishes. The hotel carried out my instructions very faithfully. I did drink very heartily that day. (Laugh)”
It not only with the marriage of food and sake, but the impression of the ”sake” improves greatly, when it is served at the right temperature.
