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Fermentation Atlas

Starters and koji from Japan

Rice koji for sake (yellow koji, kome-koji)麹

Polished rice is steeped, steamed and dusted with Aspergillus oryzae spores, then tended for about two days in a warm koji room. The mould grows into the grains and fills them with enzymes that later turn the rice starch into sugar for the sake yeast. Each brewery makes its own koji. Made in 6 steps over 2.6 days – 3 days. The longest step, take out and cool (dekoji), takes 44 h – 2 days (Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association and…). Aspergillus oryzae does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step44 h – 2 daysReported[nrib2011]Take out and cool (dekoji)
Temperature30–36 °CReported[snsr]Carry into the koji room, add spores and knead (hikikomi, tanekiri, tokomomi)
Fully documentedStarters and koji2.6 days – 3 daysMore starters and kojiMore from Japan

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceBreweries size each koji batch to the sake brew, using 15–25 % of the polished rice; there is no fixed recipe beyond that share.
15–25 % of the polished rice in a sake batchPolished rice for koji (kōji-mai) · At least 15 % for special-designation sake[nrib2011]
Tane-koji (Aspergillus oryzae spores) · Bought from spore makers, who grow it on unpolished rice[nrib2011]
30 % of the rice weightWater taken up in the steep[nrib2011]
Starterother: tane-koji (pure Aspergillus oryzae spores, sold by tane-koji makers)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.6 days – 3 days

Start
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What changes: Milling grinds away the outer layers of each rice grain

Step 1 of 6
Polish the rice
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus oryzae
Moulds

Output: polished rice.

Flavour
removes the fats, minerals and proteins of the outer layers that spoil sake flavour
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

none

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Sake koji is grown for amylase, on well-polished rice and with few spores; ginjo sake needs the spotty tsukihaze style. Miso and shoyu koji favour protease and are grown on rice, barley, soybeans or wheat.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Koji for miso and shoyuA. oryzae or A. sojae on rice, barley or soybeans with roasted wheat; grown for protease (see the soy-legume entries)
  • Tsukihaze and sōhaze kojispotty, deep growth for ginjo sake; full coverage for richer sake

Made the rice koji for sake way

Safety

Koji moulds are related to Aspergillus flavus, which makes aflatoxin, but studies show the strains used in Japan make no mycotoxins and lack the genes needed. Keeping the koji cool after the spores germinate holds back Bacillus contamination.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Provincial records (fudoki) of the eighth century mention sake made with mould, and the tenth-century Engishiki records how sake was made at court.

  1. [nrib2011] Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association and National Research Institute of Brewing 2011, A Comprehensive Guide to Japanese Sake, 1st ed.gov
  2. [snsr] Society for Nada Sake Research, Sei-kiku (koji making) processweb
  3. [kusumoto2021] Kusumoto K-I., Yamagata Y., Tazawa R., Kitagawa M., Kato T., Isobe K., Kashiwagi Y. 2021, Japanese traditional miso and koji making, Journal of Fungi 7(7):579, doi:10.3390/jof7070579paper