Full Answer
What is polished rice in sake?
Rice is milled or “polished” before being used in brewing to eliminate the fats, proteins, and minerals on the outer portions of the grain that can inhibit fermentation and cause off flavors in the finished product. In general, the more the rice has been polished, the more refined and elegant the saké’s flavor profile will be.
What is the history of sake rice milling?
The first revolution in milling Sake rice came in 1896, when Ri'ichi Satake introduced the first power-driven rice milling machine in Japan. It was 40 times more efficient than man-powered equivalents. Furthermore, in 1908, Ri'ichi invented a new circulation type rice milling machine that prevented the rice from breaking during the process.
Can You brew sake from raw rice?
Raw rice is not ideal for brewing quality sake. Milling is required to remove the outer hull and at least some of the bran. Generally speaking, the more a rice grain is milled (polished), the fruitier and smoother the final sake will be. This is incredibly important.
What is the shape of the rice in sake brewing?
Traditionally, the rice is milled to spherical shape so as to leave the center, called spherical milling. This is because delicious sake can be brewed by getting rid of the unwanted outer layer of the rice which is rich in protein and lipid, thereafter utilizing only the pure starch at the center.
How is rice milled for sake?
In simple terms, rice is poured into the milling machine's hopper at the top and released at a specific flow rate to be gently “scraped” by a pair of silicone carbide wheels before returning to the hopper for what can be hundreds, if not thousands, of passings through this spinning gauntlet for more and more scraping.
How is sake made from rice?
Sake is made essentially from water and rice, with the help of important catalysts yeast and koji spores. Koji spores are dusted onto some of the rice in order to convert rice starches into sugar, which is consumed by yeast to create alcohol.
What is milling in sake?
Each step in the sake-brewing process is critical to sake production, but rice polishing, in particular, garners a lot of attention due to its influence on sake categorization and pricing. Rice polishing is the process by which the outer layers of a grain of rice (the bran) is polished or “milled” away.
Why do they polish rice for sake?
Sake made with unpolished rice has a comparatively deeper, thicker taste, giving the impression of a strongly flavored sake with a noticeable smell of rice. But when sake is made using well-polished rice, the aroma is bright, with a flavor that leaves a light, clear impression.
Is sake the healthiest alcohol?
Sake is considered to be one of the healthiest beverages in the world and we'll list the most prominent reasons why. For starters, Japanese Sakes have been found to provide potent anti-cancer benefits as many amino acids found in the drink are carcinogens.
What grain is used for sake?
riceAlthough sake can be brewed with any kind of rice, the best sake is produced from japonica (short or medium grain) rice. For producing top class sakes such as ginjo and daiginjo types, it is further preferred to use premium rice developed for sake brewing known as sakamai.
What does SMV mean in sake?
Sake Meter ValueSMV stands for Sake Meter Value and it measures the density of sake compared to water. In order to decide whether each sake is dry or sweet, the sake meter value (SMV), or in Japanese the nihonshu-do, is the scale used for measurement.
How do they polish rice?
Home > Rice Polishing Production of white rice involves the milling of the rice seed to remove the chaff which produces brown rice, followed by further finishing to remove the bran i.e. the rest of husk, thereby producing white rice.
How can you tell if rice is polished or unpolished?
Any rice that is not white in colour, belongs to the category of unpolished rice. This includes black rice, red rice and such varieties where the outer bran layer is not removed. When the unpolished rice (whole grain) undergoes milling, a process used to change brown rice into white, it becomes polished rice.
How long does it take to polish rice?
2 to 3 daysIt usually takes 2 to 3 days to polish rice down to less than half its original size. The rice powder that is a by-product of the polishing is very often used for making rice crackers, or Japanese sweets (i.e. - Dango), and other food stuffs.
Can you use brown rice for sake?
Rice. All sake starts with Brown Rice, or genmai in Japanese. Brown Rice is 100% of the rice grain, meaning it is unpolished with only the outer inedible husk removed. In order to prepare the rice for sake, the whole grain brown rice is polished down to get closer to the center of the rice grain.
What is a premium sake?
Ginjo (吟醸) is premium sake that uses rice that has been polished to at least 60 percent. It is brewed using special yeast and fermentation techniques. The result is often a light, fruity, and complex flavor that is usually quite fragrant. It's easy to drink and often (though certainly not as a rule) served chilled.
Is sake made from rice?
sake, also spelled saké, Japanese alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice.
Is sake made with cooked rice?
Sake is actually made from polished rice kernels that are converted into sugar with the help of a special kind of mold. As Serious Eats describes it, sake makers spread the mold over steamed rice and leave it to sit for about two days.
What is sake rice called?
However, the type of rice usually used for making sake, called sakamai, is pretty different from the kind of rice that we are accustomed to eating. The main difference is that the pure starch component of sakamai, called shinpaku, is separate from the rice's protein and fat.
What is rice sake?
Sake is an alcoholic drink made from fermented rice. Often referred to as nihonshu (日本酒) in Japanese (to differentiate it from "sake" which in Japanese can also refer to alcohol in general), the drink enjoys widespread popularity and is served at all types of restaurants and drinking establishments.
Saké Grades and Rice Polishing Ratio
Rice is the main fermentable ingredient used to brew saké, and it’s often considered the single most important ingredient.
What Difference Can It Make?
All the above classifications of premium saké that do not include the word junmai in their description are saké to which pure distilled brewer’s alcohol has been added during the brewing process, just before pressing.
Higher is Drier
Though many things can affect whether a saké tastes sweet or dry (including acidity, serving temperature, mineral content of the brewing water, and previous dishes or accompanying food), one numerical guide that may be helpful, and can often be found on a bottle label, is the saké’s nihonshu-do or Saké Meter Value (SMV).
The Basics
Although it’s often referred to as a rice wine, saké is actually brewed, and its production process is more similar to beer than wine. Fundamentally, saké consists of four ingredients: rice, water, yeast and koji (a mold that produces enzymes to trigger fermentation). To identify styles, it’s helpful to know some terms:
Pairings: Beyond Sushi
Because it’s made out of rice, saké has lower acidity than wine and no tannins, which gives it food-pairing superpowers.
Fruity, Floral and Aromatic
Ginjo and daiginjo saké (both junmai and not) are often perfumed, full of fresh peach, strawberry or melon flavors and delicately textured. For even more impact, try a nama, or unpasteurized saké.
Crisp and Refreshing
Non-junmai styles are brisker in mouthfeel than junmai styles. Distilled alcohol added to the fermenting saké mash lifts aroma and lightens texture and taste. Regionally, saké from Niigata and Shizuoka are particularly known for crisp, lively styles.
Complex and Savory
Kimoto or yamahai methods of fermentation allow for the development of ambient lactic acid bacteria, which yields earthier, funkier complexities and higher acidities than found in other saké.
Rich and Silky
Junmai saké has a richer, silkier mouthfeel than non-junmai saké. With increased rice milling, junmai ginjo and junmai daiginjo styles become lighter and fruitier, but often maintain a delicate creaminess on the palate.
Saké Out of the Box
For something different, try a sparkling saké, a cloudy nigori (loosely filtered) saké, aged koshu or fruit-macerated saké like umeshu (plum saké).
Junmai: 70 percent polish or less
Junmai is generally the cheapest type of sake. In the past, at least 30 percent of the grain had to be polished away. The laws have changed to allow even less polished rice to be used, but the bottle will always say the polish level.
Ginjo: 60 percent polish or less
Ginjo sake is generally lighter and more fragrant than Junmai sake, with subtler, less intense flavors. It’s served slightly chilled, and has at least 40 percent of its outer level polished off.
Dai-ginjo: 50 percent polish or less
Dai-ginjo is super-premium sake and usually the most expensive. It is essentially an even more refined ginjo, with a light and complex flavor and aroma. Polishing off more than half of a rice grain can be tricky, as the grains become more fragile. Dai-ginjos are usually served slightly chilled, and are meant to be savored.
Sakamai Or Rice Variety
Rice Milling – Seimaibuai
- Premium sake is brewed with special rice in which the starch component (the shinpaku or “white heart”) is concentrated at the center of the grain, with proteins, fats, and amino acids located toward the outside.
Rice and Sake Prior to 1945
- Rice has always been a staple part of the Japanese diet. Up until roughly 50 years ago, rice was in short supply, with production volumes unable to meet domestic demand. Thus, the rice available for sake brewing was understandably limited, and brewing itself was confined to the winter months, when lower temperatures and cleaner winter air provided the best conditions for brewin…
Rice Bag
- When the sake rice arrives at the sake brewery, it comes as genmai (unmilled, brown rice) in 30 kilogram brown paper bags, with a label on it. The rice type, Yamada Nishiki, and its prefecture of origin, in this case Hyogo, is printed above the two stamps near the center. Below that, in a big, bold stamp, it says “tokujo,” which indicates it is the highest of the five classes of rice. The small…