On Food and Cooking

“pasteurizing” their alcohols centuries
before Louis Pasteur suggested gently
heating wine and milk to kill spoilage
microbes.
Japanese Koji and Moto: One Mold,
Separate Yeast The Japanese koji, by
contrast, is made fresh for each particular
sake brewing, is based only on polished,
unground rice, and is inoculated with a
selected culture of Aspergillus oryzae alone,
with no other molds. The mold preparation for
sake therefore doesn’t provide the complexity
of flavor that the Chinese preparation does,
with its roasted wheat, variety of microbes,
and period of drying.
Because the koji contains no yeasts, the
Japanese system requires a separate source of
yeast. The traditional yeast preparation, the
moto, is made by allowing a mixture of koji
and cooked rice gruel to sour spontaneously
with a mixed population of bacteria, mainly
lactic acid producers (Lactobacillus sake,