In Japan, amazake is called "drinkable intravenous drip" and is said to have beauty benefits. In fact, there is amazake in Thailand called " Khao Mak (Thai: ข้าวหมาก)". Japanese amazake can be gulped down as a beverage, but Thai amazake is characterized by a mixture of firm rice grains and sweet juice, and is eaten with a spoon rather than drunk.
Khao Mak is also sold at the Monday morning market held near our Southeast Asian Liaison Office. Ms. Natthanan Otthon, who sells Khao Mak here, makes a living by selling cosmetics, Thai massage oils, and other products in addition to this morning market at two other locations in Bangkok.
We visited Natthanan's home in Pathum Thani, a neighboring province north of Bangkok, to observe how Khao Mak is made.
The ingredients of Khao Mak are glutinous rice and koji mold, a type of rice malt, and Ms. Natthanan uses as much as 18kg of glutinous rice per week to produce around 300 cups. She uses old rice rather than new, but if the rice is too old it will turn brown, so it's not good to use rice that is too old. Here we will introduce how Khao Mak is made.

How to make Khao Mak

1. Wash the glutinous rice and soak for 6 hours
2. Steam for 15-20 minutes
3. Wash the steamed rice with water to remove slime
4. Place in a wire rack and leave to remove moisture
5. Transfer to a bowl and mix well with finely crushed koji mold (lukpan)
6. Divide into small plastic cups
7. Leave at room temperature for 2-3 days and it's done (the number of days varies depending on the temperature)

*If the finished amazake is left as it is, it will start to ferment into alcohol, so store it in the freezer until you are ready to sell it.

Natthanan's family has been making Khao Mak for generations, and since her mother made it, she has taken over the tradition. In addition, there is no special license required to manufacture and sell Khao Mak. In addition to glutinous rice, they also make Khao Mak mixed with black rice, which is popular with people interested in beauty. Black rice takes a different time to steam, so it is steamed separately and mixed in later. I had the Khao Mak with black rice, and it was very tasty with a great crunchy texture from the black rice.

Contributor: KANAMORI Norihito, Southeast Asia Liaison Office