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Alcoholic drinks from Japan

Nanto morohaku (Nara 'both-white' sake)南都諸白

Morohaku was the clear sake of medieval Nara temples, named for using polished white rice both for the koji and for the steamed rice added to the mash. It was started with a lactic seed mash, built up in stages and pasteurised by heating, steps that became the core of later sake brewing. The steps here are a historical outline; the figures from modern practice are given as labelled facts, not as steps.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo medieval recipe with amounts is used here, and none of the sources read gives batch sizes.
Polished rice for the koji[nrib2011]
Polished rice, steamed, for the mashThe NRIB guide says earlier brewers polished only the koji rice[nrib2011]
Koji (Aspergillus oryzae grown on steamed rice)[nrib2011]
Water[nrib2011]
Starterbodaimoto seed mash (water soured by lactic acid bacteria, then yeast) with koji
Start
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What changes: Both the koji rice and the main rice are polished white

Step 1 of 4
Polish both the koji rice and the mash rice (morohaku)
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts

Using polished rice for both is what "morohaku" means; katahaku polished only one of them. Output: white rice for koji and for the mash.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

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

At a glance

Morohaku was the clear sake of medieval Nara temples, named for using polished white rice both for the koji and for the steamed rice added to the mash. It was started with a lactic seed mash, built up in stages and pasteurised by heating, steps that became the core of later sake brewing. The steps here are a historical outline; the figures from modern practice are given as labelled facts, not as steps. Aspergillus oryzae (koji mould), grown on steamed rice, as in sake brewing today and Sake yeast, which makes the alcohol from the sugar the koji produces, as in sake brewing today do most of the fermenting.

What makes this one different

The NRIB guide says earlier sake used polished rice only for the koji. Morohaku polished both the koji rice and the mash rice, and the Nara temples added a lactic seed mash, staged additions and heat pasteurisation.

Modern Nara bodaimoto, seed mash time
In a 2002 study of a bodaimoto made at a Nara brewery, the seed mash took six days. This is a modern figure, not a medieval one.
Modern Nara bodaimoto, acidity
In the Nara bodaimoto studied in 2002 the soaking water fell to pH 4 or below. This is a modern figure.
Modern Nara bodaimoto, alcohol
The finished modern bodaimoto seed mash had 8.9 % alcohol.
Pasteurising temperature in modern sake
Modern sake is pasteurised (hi-ire) at 60°–65°C.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Kudarizake morohaku (Itami and Ikeda)In the 17th century, morohaku made near Osaka was shipped to Edo.

Safety

The seed mash is a lactic acid fermentation, and the NRIB guide says lactic acid inhibits microbial contamination while the yeast grows. In the Nara bodaimoto studied in 2002 the soaking water fell to pH 4 or below and the general bacterial count dropped. Heating the pressed sake at 60°–65°C (hi-ire) sterilises it and inactivates enzymes that would otherwise change its sweetness and aroma (NRIB, modern practice).

Hazards the sources name: Contaminating microbes in the open seed mash, held back by lactic acid (NRIB); in the modern Nara bodaimoto soaking water the lactic acid bacteria drove the pH below 4 and cut the general bacterial count.

History and sources

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

The NRIB guide says that in the 12th to 15th centuries sake was brewed at shrines and temples, which developed the lactic seed mash, staged additions and morohaku. Diaries of Buddhist priests in the 15th and 16th centuries record hi-ire of morohaku, and 1,500 L vats let specialist brewers take over in the 16th century. Japanese Wikipedia says Shōryaku-ji in Nara perfected morohaku, three-stage mashing, bodaimoto and hi-ire in the Muromachi period, and Nakatani (2020) writes that it appears to have been a large sake works whose sake was shipped from a river port.

  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. [nakatani2020] Nakatani M. 2020, 「清酒発祥の地・正暦寺」の意味の再検討と考察 (Reconsidering Shōryaku-ji as the birthplace of seishu), Journal of the Brewing Society of Japan 115(2):89–95 (abstract page)paper
  3. [matsuzawa2002] Matsuzawa K., Yamanaka S., Sakai T., Terashita T. 2002, Changes in compositions and microorganisms in dakusyu-sake brewing using the bodaimoto method, Journal of the Brewing Society of Japan 97(10):734–740 (abstract)paper
  4. [JAWP:諸白] Wikipedia (ja), 諸白 (outline only)wiki