What is Amazake? Discover Japan’s Sweet Healthy Super Drink

Amazake, also spelt ‘amasake’, is a traditional Japanese fermented sweet rice drink that has over a thousand years of history.

It is packed with health benefits and is often enjoyed chilled in the summer to help with heat fatigue, or as a warming winter drink — it is also a popular hangover cure, giving it the nickname ‘drinkable IV’.

Fermented drinks like kombucha and kefir are becoming very popular as we become more mindful of our gut health — amazake is both a superfood and a drink that can be incorporated into your diet in so many interesting ways.

Learn all about amazake, where to buy it, and how to make your own at home.

What is amazake?

Amazake literally means ‘sweet sake’ and you can get both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions. Amazake can be made from both brown and white rice and is fermented using aspergillus oryzae, the fungus that also provides us with natto (and is the key ingredient in miso).

The ingredients are boiled together for eight to ten hours to create this popular drink.

Because it's made with rice, it’s naturally gluten-free and, being a fermented product, ideal for introducing good bacteria to your gut.

You don’t only have to drink amazake though! Because of its sweet flavour, it can also be added to various foods to make desserts, snacks, dressings, and smoothies.

I love to incorporate it into dishes that typically require sugar to create a no-sugar version, such as my lazy sushi poke bowls where I use amazake to flavour the rice and quinoa instead of the typical sugar/vinegar mix.

The health benefits of amazake

Amazake is brimming with health benefits and can regularly be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet — it is an excellent source of thiamin, niacin, and B vitamins. It contains all the nutrients found in whole-grain brown rice. This means it's also an excellent source of selenium, manganese, magnesium, and phosphorus.

It can be a perfect drink if you feel unwell as it is easy on the stomach and provides the essential nutrients your body needs. It’s also beloved by the beauty community because of its anti-ageing properties and benefits to the skin, hair, and nails.

Full of healthy gut bacteria, amazake is high in enzymes and bacteria that help with digestion, and whether it’s made from white or brown rice, it has a high fibre content (although amazake from brown rice has a higher fibre content than amazake made from white rice).

Amazake is very slowly digested, meaning it has a low glycemic index, keeping you full for longer and contributing to a steady blood-sugar level. This is why I love to use it in recipes instead of sugar as someone who tries to follow a low-sugar diet as much as possible.

How to use amazake?

In Japan Amazake, is normally consumed as a drink that is diluted with hot water, sieved, and drunk as a comforting winter warmer.

However, it is very versatile and can add texture and protein to your favourite fruit smoothie, natural sweetness to pancakes and muffins or as a batter to make dairy-free french toast.

Amazake is a fun ingredient to experiment with as it can also be used in savoury foods like pickles and salad dressing to add a little sweetness. I also love to use it to flavour rice, such as in my lazy healthy sushi bowl recipe, which is a great alternative to the usual rice seasoning which adds sugar.

If you want to learn to make perfect Japanese rice and sushi at home, then join one of my online sushi classes.

Where to find amazake in the UK?
It used to be difficult to find ready-made amazake in the UK, but now Clearspring has many versions to choose from including both rice and oat amazake.

Their amazake contains just water, whole grains and a pinch of salt which is then infused with koji culture which converts the carbohydrates from the whole grains into simple sugars giving the amazake its naturally sweet flavour of amazake.

You can mix this amazake into your porridge, into pancake mix, enjoy it as a drink, or as a dessert. Enjoy a 15% discount on your order using the code: yukiskitchen15.

Should you make your own amazake?
There are some very good reasons to make amazake at home, apart from the fact that it is relatively easy meaning you can enjoy it inexpensively whenever you want.

The calorie content of amazake varies depending on whether it is homemade or commercially produced, and on what ingredients are used. The calorie content also varies depending on whether the amazake is made from whole grain, brown rice, or white rice, meaning you can easily make these choices for yourself.

Amazake made at home or one made with minimal ingredients and processing is relatively low in calories. A 100g serving of pure amazake contains around 134 calories.

Author: Yuki Gomi

Japanese Rice Amazake

Learn to make your own amazake, a traditional Japanese fermented sweet rice drink packed with health benefits

Ingredients

150g of cooked Japanese rice
350ml boiling water
150g dried rice koji (crumble and separate the grains if they are stuck together)
500ml hot water (70C)

Method

Place the cooked rice into a bowl and add 350ml of boiling water and koji. Mix with a wooden spoon and let it cool down to under 60C.
Then place into a rice cooker, yoghurt maker or Thermos flask to ferment for 6-8 hours to become sweet.

Notes

Yuki's Notes

Rice cooker: Use the 'warm' setting and put a wet tea towel on top and keep off the lid. Leave it for 6-8 hours.

Yoghurt maker: Set the temperature for 55C and put the lid on leaving it for 6-8 hours

Thermos bottle or vacuum flask: Fill it up first with boiling water to pre-warm it, then discard the water. Pour in the amazake mixture. Put the lid on and leave it for 6-8 hours.

You are aiming to keep the amazake between 50-60 degrees C.