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You will need: a rice cooker (5-go size), cooked rice or cooked glutinous rice, a thermometer, bottled natural water (soft water) or filtered tap water, and a small zip-top bag (size S)

1. Take just 200g from a 400g pack of rice kouji stored in the freezer or refrigerator. Return the rest to the refrigerator, or keep it in the freezer for long-term storage. While the rice kouji thaws, break up the clumps by hand into individual grains. Spreading it out on newspaper or tissue paper as you break it up makes it easier to check that the grains are separated.
2. Put 150g of cooked rice or cooked glutinous rice into the zip-top bag and add about 500ml of water that has been boiled and cooled to about 55°C. You can adjust the amount of water between 450 and 600ml to taste. If the rice is freshly cooked, it is hot, so do not add the rice kouji yet (the kouji mold is deactivated above 65°C). Of course, cooled rice or glutinous rice works perfectly well. ・White rice: makes amazake with a clean, refreshing sweetness. ・Glutinous rice: makes amazake with a pronounced sweetness. Choose whichever you prefer.
3. After adding the rice and water to the bag, knead it gently to blend, then add all of the separated rice kouji (200g). Knead and shake the bag to mix well, then press out all the air and seal it. Pour a suitable amount of lukewarm water (ideally about 55°C) into the rice cooker pot and submerge the bag. Keep to the maximum fill line so the water does not overflow.
4. Set the rice cooker to "keep warm" and leave the lid half open (a gap of about 3–5cm). Keep the bag in the warm water bath for 8 to 10 hours. After about 2 hours, shake the bag once to stir. (If the lid is fully closed, the water will rise above 70°C and the amazake will not form.) If the water evaporates, add more so that the bag stays submerged.
5. After 8 to 10 hours, take the bag out of the water bath. (It should feel soft and squishy.)
6. Immediately place the bag in cold water (ice water is best). If you have no ice water, cool it under running water. (This is the key point.)
7. Once the amazake has cooled completely, transfer it to a clean container (ideally disinfected with alcohol and then sterilized in boiling water) and chill it in the refrigerator. If you will not drink it right away, store it in the freezer.

Note: Amazake made at home cannot be pasteurized or heat-sterilized, so please consume it within 3 days if refrigerated or within 1 week if frozen. The kouji mold can become active and produce gas in bottles or plastic containers, so do not seal them completely.

The most delicious method is to make it with a hot-water bottle, but this takes a lot of effort, such as replacing the water with boiling water every 2 hours and wrapping the pot in a blanket.

You will need: rice kouji (400g), water (400ml), salt (120g), and a lidded container sterilized in boiling water

1. If the 400g pack of rice kouji has been stored in the freezer, spread out newspaper or tissue paper and break up the clumps by hand into individual grains. Breaking it up by hand also thaws it at the same time.
2. Put 200ml of filtered water or bottled natural water (soft water), 400g of rice kouji and 120g of salt into the sterilized container. Leave it for about 3 to 4 hours, and the rice kouji will absorb the water and swell. Then add all of the remaining water (200ml) and stir well (until the rice kouji is just covered).
3. Keep the lidded container in a cool place out of direct sunlight for 1 to 2 weeks. Stirring it every day helps it mature well into delicious shio-kouji. (Do not tighten the lid; leave it loose enough for the gas produced during maturation to escape. Do not store it where dust or oil may splash.)
4. The shio-kouji is ready when it has softened and the flavor has become mellow. Close the lid tightly and store it in the refrigerator (it keeps for about 3 months in the refrigerator). With long storage, the color may turn grayish, but this does not affect quality or taste.

Guide: use shio-kouji at about 7% of the weight of the ingredients (about 7g of shio-kouji per 100g).

1. For meat or fish, spread shio-kouji at about 7% of the weight of the meat or fish over the whole surface about 1 to 2 hours before cooking, then cook as is. You may also remove the shio-kouji before cooking. (About 7g of shio-kouji rubbed into 100g of meat.)
2. For vegetables, spread shio-kouji at about 7% of the weight of the vegetables over them, wrap in plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for half a day to make shio-kouji pickles. (Spread about 7g over 100g of cucumber, wrap and refrigerate for half a day, then slice and serve.)