Preparation of making Mirin
Here are the tools and materials you will need.
– Steamer
– A white cloth for the steamer
(A white tea cloth with only red lines on it from IKEA is my recommended one)
Better not to have any colour on the cloth. The colour may move to your rice!
The most common concern is the steamer.
Do you have one?
You have to steam the glutinous rice.
It doesn’t matter what method you use as long as you steam it.
Some people cook glutinous rice in a regular rice cooker, but it is best to steam it.
Some people use the steaming function of the Instant Pot.
Some people use a regular pot with a raised bottom and a colander for steaming.
There are many way that you can steam your rice.
Now, what you should to do?
If you don’t have a steamer, let’s discuss it in the group.
If you have any good ideas, I would like to hear that.
You can use any white cloth, even a plain cloth.
It is better to put it underneath of the rice, but if the cloth is colored, your rice will become colorful.
You can use cheesecloth, but I guss it’s a bit thin…I recommend you to wet the cheesecloth before you use.
You can use any storage jar (at least 1.65 liters), as long as it is larger than this.
Glutinous rice (about 700 grams) – Sold at Asian supermarkets, or recently you can see at natural food store in Toronto.
Any kind of glutinous rice is OK, but if you have a choice, I recommend you to choose the products which looks like from Japan.(short grain sushi rice)
Rice Koji
In general, you can use any kind of koji.
If you can find koji for Mirin, that would be the most ideal.
However, I don’t think you can find a koji for Mirin at your local stores…
You can ask koji advisors who lives near you.
Also, I recommend using the freshnest koji possible. The power of the enzymes is different.
Some people may say, “I still have the dried koji that I brought from Japan 1 years ago.
We strongly recommend that you purchase new ones if possible.
If you have a lot of dried koji left over, you can use it for your daily life.
Shio koji ,Shoyu Koji, Amazake, even making White Miso…There are lots of shorter fermentation koji products available to make so easily.
Let’s add more koji in your everyday life, so that Koji and many microbes will be surrounding you.
If you would like to have more idea of how to use Koji, trying to take different kind of classes may be great idea for you!
If you live far from Toronto and would like to have my koji sent to you, I can mail it to you.
Please let me know and we can discuss about the shipping cost.
Lastly, alcohol.
white liquor or shochu is usually used to make mirin. But! It’s quite hard to get here.
No, it’s absolutely impossible to get in here!
Vodka seems to be the most common to use for making Mirin for people who lives outside of Japan, but whiskey is also popular in this online class.
If you want to take this opportunity to make a large amount of Mirin, please do! Let’s go ahead and make it! The process is the same, the time required is the same.
Please consider the size of the materials and tools you will need to double or triple the amount.
Just for reference…
I’ve had a lot of people say at the end of the workshop,
“Oh, I should have made more…”
Since this is a workshop, we will start with the premise of making a basic bottle
Have a good night!
Shiori