What about the leftovers?

So I did my very first batch of red koji and I have a half gallon of beautiful, clear liquid the color of a dark blush wine. It is perfectly transparent after a 48 hour cold crash, closed-lid pasteurization and siphon. Tests are extremely positive - I used a Lalvin champagne yeast and the liquid has a slight effervescence that adds a really refreshing character. I figure a week or so aging in the cellar, and maybe a bit of lemon grass to give it some dimension, and I have a recipe!

Now my question, since I was in the restaurant biz for 20 years and am OCD about not throwing things away, is can I use the leftover red rice mash for anything besides compost? Can it be eaten? If the liquid it produces is not only palatable but desirable, then the leftovers should be at least edible.

But how? Are there any recipes? Boil it up and put it in a casserole? Soup? Dry it out and use it again? Have I bred a gallon of koji just like my pints of yeast after the hard cider batches?

Any ideas would be ultra-swell.

Thanks!


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CorkusDelicti said:

Are there any recipes? Boil it up and put it in a casserole? Soup? Dry it out and use it again? Have I bred a gallon of koji just like my pints of yeast after the hard cider batches?

Any ideas would be ultra-swell.

Thanks!


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There are TONS of recipes for the Sake lees. I have never used red sake lees but I bet it works just as well.

One recipe I have used but no longer do because my wife hates sea food is SakeKasu fish:

Take fillets of fish and cut into 1" thick maximum palatable servings. Any red fleshed fish works great but I bet any fish works good. Coat them in salt and cover in clean Tupperware over night in the fridge. Then wash off the salt and pat dry the fillets. Now take 4-5 TBS of Sake lees (Kasu) and mix with a tsp or two of Sake to make it a bit thinner. Coat all over the fish and let it marinate for about 3 days in the fridge. After that start up your broiler. Take the fish and clean off any marinade because the Kasu will burn in the broiler. Let it broil for about 4-5 min depending on size of the fish.


Another simple recipe is Kasu Amazake:

Mix up the Kasu with water to a soup consistency. Mix in sugar to desired sweetness and add 3-5 1" long slices of fresh ginger root depending on preference and amount of Amazake made. Add heat on stove and just bring to boil then remove flame. Let cool and serve. Makes a nice cold winter day soup to warm you up.

Those are just two off the top of my head but the sake lees can be used to marinate most any meat and can be accents to many dishes. Look around the interwebs and you should find a lot of recipes.

That's fantastic. Plus I learned it's "lees" and not "mash." I'm doing the Saturday shopping right now, so a good fish selection just made the list. I thank you, and will do some interwebs searching as well, now that I have a clue what to look for. Thanks again!


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Oh and I wanted to comment that I like Lalvin K1V-1116 in Sake, is that the strain you used? It is not as fruity as sake yeast is but still has a nice effervescent floral like effect.

For other brews or sake I have also made starters out of the lees to use as my yeast addition. I keep sake lees in the fridge for months on end. Measure out 50g of lees and mix with 1 cup of water. And in a 1/2 tsp of sugar and some nutrient like go-ferm and let it sit at room temp for a couple hours to over night and pitch that. Depending on the conversion you had in you Sake. If there is chunks of un saccraficated chunks of rice I may add some pectic enzyme to the starter to help break that down.

I used LC-1118 since I have a bunch that I use in my hard cider making. The product did come out dry and a bit effervescent but not bad at all; in fact it has a delightful bit of of fizz and bite that really compliment the "soft" sake taste.It's aging right now and I'm thinking a very small lychee or beet sugar backsweet will help even things up and stay true to the cultural mien.

In future batches it will be interesting to see what a standard yeast ball does as well as the type of yeast you mention. I perceive that top-fermenting yeasts may be oxymoronic but if your experience is different then I'd be interested to hear how it all turned out.

I'll use the saving technique for the lees you mention, since I think this is going to be a regular occurrence. Having a batch or 12 gong at all times will certainly guarantee my ability to be welcome at most any gala.

Again, thanks. This site has already been a trove.


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CorkusDelicti said:

So I did my very first batch of red koji and I have a half gallon of beautiful, clear liquid the color of a dark blush wine. It is perfectly transparent after a 48 hour cold crash, closed-lid pasteurization and siphon. Tests are extremely positive - I used a Lalvin champagne yeast and the liquid has a slight effervescence that adds a really refreshing character. I figure a week or so aging in the cellar, and maybe a bit of lemon grass to give it some dimension, and I have a recipe!

Now my question, since I was in the restaurant biz for 20 years and am OCD about not throwing things away, is can I use the leftover red rice mash for anything besides compost? Can it be eaten? If the liquid it produces is not only palatable but desirable, then the leftovers should be at least edible.

But how? Are there any recipes? Boil it up and put it in a casserole? Soup? Dry it out and use it again? Have I bred a gallon of koji just like my pints of yeast after the hard cider batches?

Any ideas would be ultra-swell.

Thanks!


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Click to expand...

I know this is an old thread but i'm new to this forum and wanted to get my two cents in.
I found some really interesting recipes for red rice wine lees. I've lost the links for most of them, but if you run a quick search for Ang Chow you'll find some interesting stuff. Most of the recipes involved using it as a marinade for chicken and pork. I have an idea I plan to try for some barbecued ribs and braised pork butt.
Here is one of the links: http://www.goingwithmygut.com/going_with_my_gut/2010/08/mums-angchow-fried-chicken.html